


The Power in You

by Pisces_Princess



Series: The Lost Kingdom of Etheria [1]
Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Alternate Reality, Blood and Injury, Bright Moon (She-Ra), F/F, F/M, Forced Abortion, Forced miscarriage, Gen, Guardians of the Heart of Etheria, Horde Prime - Freeform, Lesbians, M/M, Major Characters - Freeform, Major Original Character(s), Mentioned Horde Prime (She-Ra), Miscarriage, Missing Kingdom, Music, Musicia, Original Character(s), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Portals, Rape/Non-con Elements, Salineas, Sex Magic, Suicidal Thoughts, The Crystal Castle, The First Ones (She-Ra), The Fright Zone (She-Ra), The Rebellion, Threats of Rape/Non-Con, Torture, Unplanned Pregnancy, Violence, Whispering Woods, plumeria - Freeform, the heart of etheria, the horde
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-02-20
Packaged: 2021-03-15 13:28:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 23
Words: 54,294
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28814160
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pisces_Princess/pseuds/Pisces_Princess
Summary: Calliope never belonged in the Horde and everyone knew it, especially her best friend, Lexie. She was bullied into almost complete silence before a mysterious occurrence pulls her away from everything she ever knew and discovers her true identity as well as a kingdom missing from the memories of Etheria.Starts before the S3 Finale and intertwines the characters and plot into the series
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Angella/Micah (She-Ra), Bow/Glimmer (She-Ra), Calliope/Lexie, Callista/Brio, Entrapta/Hordak (She-Ra), George/Lance (She-Ra), Mermista/Sea Hawk (She-Ra), Musa/Ronen, Perfuma/Scorpia (She-Ra)
Series: The Lost Kingdom of Etheria [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2174361
Comments: 4
Kudos: 20





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A mysterious voice pulls Calliope away from the Fright Zone

Chapter One

 _Growing up in the Horde is the worse_ , Calliope thought with a sigh as she made her way through the corridors to the locker room. Everything was dreary here, the walls crumbling around her as she turned another corner. Calliope stopped outside the locker room for a brief moment, straightening her shoulders and making her face stoic as she entered, joining the other cadets before training. She quietly greeted everyone and went to her locker, opening it to reveal a mirror on the door, her equipment and spare clothes settled inside. She reached all the way to the back and touched the necklace that was taped to the backside of the locker, the only thing she owned from her family, whoever they were. It was a simple pendant, shaped like a treble clef (as if she knew what that was, they didn’t have music in the Horde) but she enjoyed tracing the curving lines of the pendant to keep her relaxed.

Calliope started changing into her combat uniform as Lexie snuck up behind her and snaked her arms around her torso, tickling her exposed stomach quickly. Calliope flinched away, giggling as she pulled out of Lexie’s arms, pulling up her pants.

“You were almost late!” Lexie snorted, crossing her arms over her chest. “Do you know how much trouble we would of been in? And do you know how boring training is when you’re not there!” She whined.

Calliope rolled her eyes and turned her back to her, pulling her shirt over her head and strapping on her armor as Lexie went to work on her hair. Calliope had annoying long hair that was white on one side and black on the other, with the front bangs with the opposite colors. The curls fell down her back and pass her ass, making sitting, sleeping, and training an annoyance when it was down. Shadow Weaver had gotten so mad at it when she was younger, she sheared it all off with a pair of rusty scissors, only for the annoying curls to have, magically, sprouted back out curlier and thicker than when they were cut off. Shadow Weaver never tried to cut it off again but managed to get the other children to bully her about being a princess for years afterward, making her a target in training. Lexie had stood by her side the whole time and would fight anyone that came close to her best friend.

The taller girl had long, jet black hair that she always kept tightly wrapped up on the top of her head and would do the same for Calliope’s hair for training. Unlike everyone else, Lexie loved Calliope’s princess curls and hated her having her hair up unless absolutely necessary so she could play with the heterochromatic hair.

Calliope’s deep blue eyes met Lexie’s brown eyes in the mirror and gave her a small smile as they both finished up their tasks before training. The girls had been inseparable since meeting each other as toddlers and could communicate through eye contact and small gestures since Calliope hated to talk around others.

“You knew I wasn’t going to be late and risk us getting punished…” Calliope whispered softly, turning to help Lexie fasten a loose harness. Things in the Fright Zone had been tense since a Force Captain had defected and joined the rebellion. Lexie smiled and linked arms with her as they were called to the simulation room.

“I know! I just like giving you a hard time, Callie!” Lexie chuckled, unlinking their arms and standing at attention at their spots as they are briefed on their simulation missions. ______________________________________________________________________________

“I’m so beat!” Lexie sighed loudly, falling over on a bench in the locker room dramatically. “The She-Ra simulation is so hard to take down! It’s not fair!” She turned on her stomach, putting her chin in her hands and pouting at Calliope, who rolled her eyes at her.

“She-Ra’s not supposed to be easy to take down,” Calliope whispered softly, taking off her shirt and throwing it at Lexie’s face. Lexie squealed, falling off the bench, causing Calliope to chuckle. “Let’s go shower, Lex. I’m tired too,” Calliope muttered, shimmying out of her pants as she headed towards the showers, Lexie hot on her heels.

They turned on separate shower heads, cold water cascading on them. The other cadets soon joined and talking and laughter soon filled the shower room. Calliope slowly relaxed under the water as Lexie rambled on about who knows what. She pulled her hair out of the tight bun and let it flow down her back, soaking up the freezing water.

“Hey, Princess!” one of the other girls called out, drawing Calliope’s attention. Lexie growled softly beside her, glaring at the other girl. “Isn’t there a castle you’re supposed to be sparkling in?”

“Lay off, Terra! Don’t make me kick your ass again!” Lexie growled. Calliope put her head down, staring at the floor. Terra sneered at Lexie, taking a threatening step forward.

“Why do you always defend her? Can’t she speak for herself? Come on, princess! Speak! Oh, that’s right, you don’t talk. Because your voice is as sparkly as your hair!”

It was true. Calliope’s voice was melodic and soothing, especially her singing voice. Ever since the haircut incident, it was just another piece of ammunition to use against her. Calliope only talked and sung by herself or around Lexie.

Lexie lunged and took Terra down, punching her in the face. Terra screamed, trying to defend herself but Lexie was a highly-trained warrior, top of their ranks, and never backed down from a fight. A couple of the other cadets managed to pull the two apart and Terra groaned, blood gushing from her nose and mouth.

Lexie stood up and wiped the blood off her busted lip, spitting the bloody saliva in Terra’s direction before going over to Calliope. She reached out to grab Calliope’s hand but Calliope jerked back, looking up at her with tears in her eyes before leaving the shower room to change. Lexie followed after her, pulling on her clothes too.

“Callie! What’s wrong?” Lexie asked, confused.

Calliope pulled on her shirt and glared at her, hot tears running down her face that took Lexie back. Calliope never showed her emotions, it shouldn’t be done in the Fright Zone if you don’t want to be considered weak.

“Is it what Terra said? You know she’s all bark and no bite! Callie, come on,” Lexie tried again to grab her hand, gripping tightly as she tried to jerk away again.

“Aren’t you ever ashamed of being my friend?!” Calliope said, louder than her usual whisper, which took Lexie by surprise, again.

“Of course not! It’s the two of us, always. It doesn’t matter what they do to us or what they say as long as we have each other. Why does that make you mad?”

“Because what if they’re right?” Calliope said in a whisper. Lexie looked around before pulling Callie out of the locker rooms and down the corridor. Calliope followed, confused, as she was led out of the building and to the edge of the whispering woods. Lexie turned to face her, face contorted with concern.

“Don’t say things like that in there. If they have any suspicion, you know what they’ll do to you? What Shadow Weaver will do? You’re not a princess, no matter how pretty you are,” Lexie smirked, brushing the hair away from Calliope’s face.

“And I am not ashamed to be your friend. You are just as strong as I am. If you put your mind to it, you could kick Terra’s ass as well and she knows it. They all know it.” Callie sighed and leaned her cheek into Lexie’s touch, loving the warm feel of her hand.

Lexie stepped forward, leaving little space between them as she pressed her forehead against the shorter’s girls. They stayed like that for a couple of minutes before Lexie pulled away, running her head down her arm as she started towards the buildings again.

“We’re gonna miss dinner. Don’t want to miss out on those ration bars!” She giggled, turning to face Calliope. Calliope smiled, her face tingling from the contact they had.

“I’ll be there in a minute, I just need some fresh air. Save me a bar?” Lexie nodded before ducking inside. Calliope huffed out a breath of air, patting her burning cheeks in embarrassment.

When she finally calmed down, she turned to head back to the fright zone but stopped when the most haunting melody echoed in her ears. She twirled around quickly and stared into the whispering woods, as the sound echoed from there.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Calliope follows the voice into the woods and meets She-Ra

Chapter Two

When she was younger, Calliope loved sitting outside the Fright Zone, at the edge of the Whispering Woods, and listening to them sing. Lexie always told her she didn’t hear anything, that the woods were creepy and she heard funny animal noises that made her skitter back to the safety of the Fright Zone but not Calliope. She swore up and down that the trees were singing, a melody flowing through their branches with harmonizing bird calls intertwining into the song.

This sound was different from the song Calliope knew the trees sang. This was… familiar. A memory she couldn’t grasp, a warmth within her she couldn’t place. It wasn’t coming from the trees, it was coming from deeper inside, beckoning her to it. Calliope took a few hesitant steps forward before freezing, staring into the dark trees. The melody seemed to wrap around her, drowning out the rapid beating of her own heart in her ears. It was sad, it was heartbreaking. She could feel her feet move on their own accord as she ventured into the woods, not looking back onto the glowing green lights of the Fright Zone.

She felt like she was in a trance as she wandered through the woods, following the haunting melody over fallen tree limbs and through crooked creeks. It wasn’t until she noticed how dark the sky overhead was getting that she realized that she had been walking for a couple of hours. Calliope turned her head frantically, seeming to fall out of whatever trance she had been in. Nothing looked familiar, she couldn’t even tell which way she had come from and she grunted out in frustration.

“Sure, Callie. Let’s follow strange noises into the creepy woods and get ourselves hopelessly lost as it grows dark!” she chastised herself out loud, kicking a rock. That’s when she noticed a soft glow about 100 yards away from her. With nothing to lose, she walked towards it, pushing the thickening vegetation out of her way as she stumbled towards what she hoped was safety.

Calliope stumbled into the clearing and, standing before her, was a large, triangular building with ancient carvings along the entirety of the building. Vines wrapped around the bottom half of the building and it glowed softly. Calliope stared up at it in awe, taking a couple of steps forward as it glowed brighter as she approached. She nearly tripped over a small brick that laid before her and as she righted herself, she noticed multiple bricks similar to it, all embedded deep in the ground and creating what looked like a pathway from the building to… the woods again.

Calliope doesn’t know what came over her but as she stared down at the bricks, she felt the urge to sing. A simple, four-note tune escaped her lips and the brick in front of her started to glow. She stared at it before hesitantly taking a step forward to stand on it. It felt like it was humming underneath her feet. She faced towards the woods, taking a sharp breath before letting out the tune again. The bricks started lighting up before her, leaving a trail of light deeper into the woods. Calliope started to follow the glowing bricks but stopped in her tracks as the building behind her started to make noises.

She whirled around and froze as the doors opened and out stepped She-Ra. The two froze as they stared at each other. She-Ra was the first to move as she let out a battle cry and charged at Calliope, swinging her sword towards her head. Calliope yelped and ducked quickly, feeling a couple of hairs shave off the top of her head from the force of She-Ra’s sword. She rolled before getting into a crouching position above the bricks, the lights had died down.

“She-Ra, don’t! I’m not a threat!” Calliope pleaded as She-Ra charged again, stabbing downwards at the intruder. Calliope flips backward, landing back on her feet with her fists out in front of her, ready to defend herself.

“What are you doing here?! How did you find this place?!” She-Ra demanded as she continued to force the intruder back, swinging her sword wildly at the shorter girl. It took everything in Calliope to dodge the taller woman’s attacks.

“ENOUGH!” Calliope screams, feeling the force of her words leave her mouth as the air pushes She-Ra back, her landing on her backside as she stared up at the dark sky in confusion. Calliope gasps, covering her mouth with her hands. _What was that?!_ She thought frantically as she stared at She-Ra in horror.

“I-i’m s-so s-s-sorry! I was just f-following a voice…” Calliope muttered, taking a couple of steps towards She-Ra, who had morphed back down to Adora.

“What was that?” Adora asked her in amazement, slowly getting to her feet with her hand gripping the sword tightly.

“I don’t know! I’m freaking out! What’s happening to me?!” Calliope said, voice elevating in her panic and she could feel the force build up again. Adora felt it too as she took a reassuring step towards her, raising her hands in a friendly gesture.

“Hey, it’s okay. There’s nothing to freak out about. You… you seem familiar. You’re from the Horde, right? What are you doing out here?” Adora said reassuring, continuing to take slow steps towards Calliope, who was now wrapping her arms around herself.

“Force Captain Adora… I was following a voice coming from the woods. I realized I was lost and was going to turn around but I saw the glow of this building and then the bricks… the bricks started to glow when I sang and… and…” She was hyperventilating at this point, sinking down to her knees.

“They were glowing?” Adora asked curiously, crouching down in front of the shaken girl.

“Yes! Oh no, they’re gonna kill me when I go back! And Lexie… they’re gonna kill her!” “Hey! Hey! Look at me,” Adora said, Calliope lifting her eyes to meet the former force captains.

“No one is going to hurt you. If you want, you can join the Rebellion. Join me. You obviously have some powers that we could use if you can learn to use them. And your friend, we can have her join us too if she wants. You don’t ever have to go back there… uh…” Adora stuttered, realizing she didn’t know the other girl's name.

“Calliope,” Calliope provided, slowly calming down.

“Calliope! That’s right! I do remember now! You’re the one that they all called… princess…” Adora muttered, cheeks flaming in embarrassment as she remembered all the times the girl was bullied and she did nothing.

“They call you that now. I guess we have that in common,” Calliope giggled softly, causing Adora to rub the back of her neck sheepishly and laugh.

“Let’s head back to Brightmoon, Glimmer and Bow would love to meet you,” Adora told her, standing up and extending her hand out to Calliope, who took it and let the taller girl help her stand.

“But…” Calliope started, staring down at the bricks leading to the woods.

“We can explore more tomorrow. We need to get out of here and rest up, you look like you had a long day.” Calliope nodded in agreement and followed Adora towards Brightmoon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Two is up! What do y'all think?


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lexie freaks and Calliope meets the Queen

Chapter 3

Lexie was frantic. Calliope NEVER disappeared. A few minutes of fresh air was one thing, she didn’t want to bother Calliope if she needed some space. But a few minutes turned into a few hours and… Lexie was ready to tear down the fright zone to find Calliope. 

She had been lying in bed for a few hours, staring up at the ceiling, trying to figure out where Calliope could have gone. Had she been kidnapped? Eaten by a wild animal? Fallen into a hole? The possibilities were endless and while she knew that Calliope was just as skilled as she was and could handle herself… she couldn’t help but feel very protective of the other girl. They had always looked out for each other, through thick and thin. Lexie even…

She shook her head, driving the thoughts away from her as her eyes began to water. She couldn’t bring herself to name the feelings she was having over her lost friend. She tossed and turned for the remainder of the night until dusk when she slipped out of her bunk before the rest of the cadets awoke and started getting ready for the day. 

As the other cadets started rousing and getting ready, she made her way towards Horror Hall for breakfast. Not that she needed to eat, she had a saved ration bar for Calliope for when she returned that she could have munched on. But she couldn’t bring herself to eat Calliope’s share. She was stopped at the entrance of the hall by a force cadet.

“Senior Cadet Lexie, you’ve been assigned to a task force to take down a rebel town on the outskirts of Elberon. Report to the main entrance in an hour for preparations,” they told her and she nodded numbly as they walked away. 

She took a couple more steps forward before stopping again, her breath hitching.  _ If Calliope comes back, she won’t know where I’ve gone,  _ she thought and she turned around to make her way to the lockers. She stopped in front of Calliope’s and opened it, feeling around the back for the necklace she kept pinned back there. Lexie always loved the gentle curves of the treble clef and enjoyed how the pendant rested against the hollow of Calliope’s throat when she did wear it, which was rare. 

Lexie proceeded to tie the necklace around her own neck and rummaged around some more until she found a scrap piece of paper and something to write with before scrawling a note out for her friend. 

_____________________________________________________________________________

Calliope did not know what she expected when she entered the kingdom of Brightmoon but it wasn’t the overwhelming familiarity of the place to come crashing down on her like a bundle of bricks. Her breath caught as she gazed up at the castle and she paused at the doors where Adora was already entering, blinking up at the amazing structure. Adora turned around, noticing that she wasn’t being followed anymore, and chuckled softly.

“I felt the same way when I first came to Brightmoon. Come on, I’m sure everyone is waiting for us!” Adora urged, gently tugging on Calliope’s arm as they continued into the palace. 

Suddenly, Brightmoon guards were surrounding them and Calliope’s eyes widened at the spears pointing in her direction. 

“Whoa! Guys, she’s come to pledge her allegiance to the Rebellion! We need an audience with Queen Angella!” Adora told them, pushing one of the spears away from her. Calliope could feel something building inside her, her nervousness creeping up her throat as she whirled her head around. 

“Please, stop…” she whispered softly, to no one in particular but the guards suddenly lowered their spears, looking confused at one another. Adora’s eyes widened, confused as well as her shoulders relaxed. 

“How did you-?” Adora was cut off by a burst of sparkles surrounding her, and another woman was suddenly standing beside her, all purple and glittery. 

“ADORA! What took you sooooo long?! Wait, who is this?! Ahhh, horde spy!” the other woman screeched, causing the guards to raise their weapons again.

“Glimmer! This is Calliope, she’s come to pledge her allegiance to the rebellion and apparently has some really cool powers cause she told everyone to stop and they lowered their weapons until you came by and freaked out! Could you please chill?” Adora asked, exasperated. 

Glimmer took in the situation for the first time and made an ‘oh’ expression on her face before asking the guards to lower their weapons, to which they obliged. She then bounded over to the newcomer and squished her face between her hands.

“Hi! I’m Glimmer, Adora’s best friend! It’s so nice that you came to join us! You need to meet my mother, she’ll love having more people join our cause! Come on!” she said and grabbed Adora’s hand as she teleported them to the throne room. 

Calliope collapsed to the ground on her hands and knees, heaving as Adora patted her back reassuringly.

“Sorry!” Glimmer said, making her way over to the angelic being that was her mother. “Mom! Adora brought home a friend!”

Calliope started to calm down and picked up her head and made eye contact with the Queen of Brightmoon and felt her whole body freeze. Queen Angella stared down at her with a mixture of recognition and confusion as she made her way over to them. 

“Adora, what did I say about bringing back strays?” the Queen questioned, breaking eye contact to look at her. Adora rubbed the back of her neck, having the decency to look ashamed. 

“Sorry, I found her outside of the Crystal Castle and couldn’t help myself. She looked so helpless and confused.”

“I am not helpless but I am confused,” Calliope supplied, finally standing to her feet. “You look… familiar. This all feels familiar.”

Queen Angella nodded in agreement. “You remind me of a woman I used to know. You have her eyes.” 

Adora and Glimmer looked between the two of them, now the ones confused as to what was happening. Calliope pressed a hand to her heart, feeling it skip a beat at the words. 

“Who am I? I always felt… different from everyone else. I’ve always felt this… thing inside me that’s tried to burst out. You know me. I can see it in your eyes.”

“We thought you were dead. We thought everyone had died…” Queen Angella sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. “We didn’t even think they would have taken you. Of course, they did, it would have been easy to train you up and use your power against us…” she mumbled mostly to herself. 

“Mother, what are you talking about? Who is she?” Glimmer asked, stepping forward. 

“Who am I?!” Calliope called out loudly, allowing her voice to fill the space for the first time since she was small and it took everyone aback, feeling the power of her words. Angella paused, eyeing the girl with new regard. 

“Princess Musa of the Kingdom of Musica was a dear friend of mine. And was your mother,” Angella said softly. 

Calliope took a step back, shock creeping through her body from the news before everything went black. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you think of the revelation??


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Calliope has a dream and yearns for a life she never had

Chapter Four

_ Music drifted through the crowd, people laughing and dancing as flowers bloomed around the footsteps of a large palace. Calliope looked around, momentarily blinded by the vibrancy of everything. She had never seen so many colors together before. She had never heard such beautiful melodies.  _

_ She walked through the crowded people, taking in their smiling faces, their tinkling laughter, inhaling the intoxicating aroma of delicacies she had never been able to taste before. She stopped at the foot of the stairs that led up to the palace, white marble almost blinding in the midday sun.  _

_ Suddenly, the music died down and everyone’s heads turned upwards to the top of the steps. Calliope followed suit and gasped softly. Standing before here was a tall, graceful woman with flowing white curls down her back and vibrant blue eyes that scanned the crowd of people with adoration. A silver tiara graced across her brow with a strange symbol resting between the apex of her eyebrows. It looked a little like a heart, but Calliope could not be sure.  _

_ It was when she noticed the woman’s arms were cradled against her chest with a small bundle tucked into the crook of her elbows. Calliope took a couple of steps up, trying to get a better look at the bundle when a man came up behind the woman, wrapping an arm around her back and tucking her into his side. He had jet black hair that was swept back into a ponytail with dark, deep-set eyes that shone with… love? Is that what love looked like? _

_ “ _ People of Musicia!”  _ his voice boomed, drawing the crowd to attention.  _ “We are pleased to introduce the newest member of our family! Please welcome our little princess, Calliope!”

_ The crowd cheered, the sweet melody of the music playing softly in the background. Calliope looked around, flushed with happiness at the warm welcome she had received before realizing… how could she be in both places at once?  _

I’m asleep,  _ she thought as the edges of her dream started to fade, the citizens slowly disappearing.  _ I have to see!  _ She thought again as she started running up the steps of the palace, desperately trying to reach her parents who smiled proudly down at the little bundle in their arms. Just as her hands reached out to touch the woman, everything faded.  _

Dawn was trickling through the windows when Calliope opened her eyes again. She was laying on a comfy bed, the softest thing she ever felt, and the light from the morning was slanted against her face, warming her cheeks. She sat up slowly, body stiff from not sleeping on something as hard as a rock, and looked around the room. It was well furnished, with a bed, dresser, soft lighting, and a waterfall. The water was soothing and made Calliope want to go back to sleep under the thick blankets. 

But she couldn’t, she needed more answers. Did Queen Angella really tell her she was a princess? That didn’t make any sense. Slowly, she swung her legs off the bed and started to stand up, taking note of her sore spots and aches as she made her way to the door, the dream still lingering in the back of her mind. 

She opened the door, taking a quick peek outside before continuing out into the hallway. Sunlight was starting to blaze brightly through the windows that lined the hall as Calliope ventured along with them, running her hand against the wall opposite. She didn’t know where she was going, she had no destination in mind as she wandered through the vast palace. 

She stopped at an open door, peeking inside to see a large, white piano gracing one side of the room, rugs, and chairs littering around the rest of the area where other various instruments were strewn around. Calliope took a step towards the large instrument, taking in its gleaming surface and shiny keys. When she reached the edge of it closest to the keys, she hesitated, almost unsure of what to do before pressing a key down. 

A soft note echoed through the room and she drew her hand back in surprise. She moved closer, to stand in front of it, and pressed a couple more keys, various notes playing out that made her giggle with excitement. She sat down on the bench in front of the piano and her fingers had a mind of their own. 

They gracefully keyed a few more notes, starting to string together a melody and Calliope’s mind went blank as the music filled the room and flowed out into the hallway. Her fingers knew what they were doing as if they had been playing piano her entire life instead of swinging a sword. The music filled her heart, her mind, and her soul and, for the first time she can recall, she felt an overwhelming peace. 

Overcome with the sadness of her melody, tears started streaking down Calliope’s cheeks on their own accord, falling onto her dancing fingers and wetting the keys of the piano. She was unaware of the audience she had procured from the music as Adora, Glimmer, and Bow all stood in the doorway of the room, enraptured by the music as the glittering images that were dancing around the room. 

The power of Calliope’s music had procured the image of the woman and man from her dreams, who were waltzing around with each other, smiling and silently laughing with each other. Calliope turned her head, catching a glimpse of the shimmering figures before her hands suddenly ceased to play, the image dying away with the last echo of the music. 

She let out a loud sob, her hands smashing against the keys of the piano as the best friend squad rushed forward to pull her away, allowing her to sink to the ground amongst their arms as she cried loudly for the life she had lost. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heartbreaking!!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lexie is in danger and Calliope wants to save her

Chapter Five

Lexie marched through the conquered town, rounding up the last of the rebel insurgents. Thus far, she had only sustained minor injuries from the battle but she knew she was preoccupied and distracted. She’s lucky she had not sustained anything worse with where her mind was. 

Calliope… She still had heard nothing about her friend and it was making her stomach crawl with anxiety. It had already been a couple of days since she had disappeared and the longer it took to find her… Lexie shook her head to get rid of the pestering thoughts. She couldn’t dwell too long on the possibilities, she had a mission to fulfill. 

“Lexie!” She heard a voice call out and turned around to see Terra standing beside a smoldering building, holding a spear in her hand. “Come on! We’re being called back to camp!”

Lexie gave a nod and followed after Terra, who rounded the building and disappeared from sight. She continued through the ruined town, catching glimpses of Terra here and there and trying to keep up. 

“Terra, wait! The camp is the other way!” Lexie shouted, stopping near the Whispering Woods. She looked around, a bad feeling settling in the pit of her stomach. 

“I know. I just needed to talk to you, alone,” Terra said, coming out from behind a tree. 

Lexie narrowed her eyes, gripping her own weapon. “What do you want?”

“I want Calliope. And you keep getting in my way,” she smirked. 

“Calliope doesn’t want anything to do with you, so back off.” Terra chuckled at her, circling her slowly like a predator sizing up its prey. Lexie was on edge. 

“She doesn’t because she wants you. Everyone sees it. And you? You’ve been off your game since she disappeared. You want her too.”

“No, I don’t!” Lexie screamed, lunging at Terra who sidestepped her. 

“Tsk tsk tsk. Sloppy. With you out of the way, she can be mine. And no one will suspect a thing, they’ll think you died during the siege,” Terra said triumphantly, finding an opening and thrusting her spear into Lexie’s side. 

Lexie screamed out as white-hot pain scorched through her. She fell to her knees as Terra pulled the spear out and pinned her down to the ground. Lexie breathed heavily, feeling blood pour from her gaping side as she weakly struggled to throw Terra off her. 

“Lights out, Lexie. I’ll take good care of her for you,” Terra chuckled before taking the end of the spear and knocking Lexie unconscious. 

______________________________________________________________________________

“We need to go back for my friend,” Calliope insisted, sitting in the war room with Queen Angella, Adora, Glimmer, Bow, and the rest of the princess alliance. 

“It is absolutely out of the question. We can’t risk more lives for your friend. Besides, you have no control over your powers, you need more training,” Queen Angella told her. 

“No one here can train me! Anyone who could have trained me is…” Calliope trailed off, looking at the table. “Please… she’s all I have. Besides, I have horde training. I know how to fight, magic doesn’t always save you. Adora,” Calliope turned her head to the taller girl, eyes pleading. “You know what it’s like. If someone you cared about was trapped there, wouldn’t you do everything you could to save them?”

“W-what? I-I don’t have anyone…” Adora chuckled nervously, looking flushed. Glimmer rolled her eyes and nudged Bow knowingly.

“But yes. If I did, which I’m not saying I do! I would do everything I can to save them. Queen Angella is also right, you need more training as well,” Adora finished. 

“I say we put it to a vote!” Glimmer interrupted. “All those in favor of raiding the Fright Zone, raise your hands!” Calliope raised her hand along with Adora and Glimmer. Everyone else looked around the table, contemplating and unsure. Calliope clenched her fist by her side, turning and storming out of the meeting. 

She stopped in the hallway outside of her room and sniffled, wiping away the stubborn tears. She was tired of crying. Footsteps ran up behind her and Calliope twirled around to find Adora standing there, Glimmer and Bow trailing not too far behind. 

“Hey… I’m sorry for how things happened back there. Are you okay?” Adora asked, looking her over. 

Calliope shrugged, wrapping her arms around herself. “If the roles were reversed, she’d come back for me. I’m not weak. I have the same training as you, I have powers like the other princesses. I can hold my own. Back in the Horde, I never said anything to anyone. I have talked more in the last couple of days than I have my entire lifetime. I am done letting them control me.” 

Bow stepped forward and put his hand on her shoulder reassuringly. “Then we are by your side. We won’t let you go by yourself and you obviously care deeply for your friend.”

“Some would even say that it sounds like you loooooove them!” Glimmer giggled, hugging Calliope. 

“I do love her but not how you think! Glimmer! Let go!” Calliope laughed, being surrounded by the other two who engulfed her in a hug. “You guys are the best!”

“Before we go anywhere!” Bow said, pulling away from the group hug. “We don’t know what she looks like. How are we gonna help you find her?”

“Easily. I can show you,” Calliope said confidently, pulling away from the hug as well. Calliope let out a sweet little tune, putting power behind her tune as her voice conjured an image of Lexie in all her tall glory. 

Bow let out a low whistle. “That’s a cool trick!” 

The others examined the figure, which Calliope had only learned to hold for about thirty seconds before it would evaporate but as she looked at the misty figure of Lexie that she had conjured, she started to wonder.

_ Could we be in love? _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do y'all like Lexie's POV?


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Calliope goes to the Fright Zone to find Lexie 
> 
> (Rape/Non-Con warning!)

Chapter 6

Calliope and the Best Friend Squad snuck along the perimeter of the Fright Zone, assessing the rotation of guards and breaches in the perimeter. The plan was for Glimmer to teleport Calliope in and then teleport out so she could search for Lexie. They would give her thirty minutes and then teleport her back out, regardless of whether or not she had her friend. 

Adora had been against the plan, wanting to barrel ahead and take down as many Horde soldiers as possible but Calliope convinced her not to, stating that the Horde was unaware that she had defected and could have easily gotten lost in the woods. Adora, begrudgingly agreed, still upset that she couldn’t She-Ra herself through the place. 

After they were in place and they figured out rotation patterns, Glimmer teleported Calliope into a supply closet that she had described to the best of her abilities to Glimmer. 

“Remember, thirty minutes. Be back here or we’re gonna have to charge on, okay?” Glimmer told her, giving her a quick hug before disappearing into a shower of sparkles.

Calliope took a deep breath and moved out the closet after checking the coast was clear. She had made sure to wear her Horde uniform, which she hadn’t bothered to clean because she needed to make the “lost” story look believable. She had wrapped her curls up into a top knot to move quicker. 

First, she checked the barracks, just in case Lexie had taken some time to rest (unlikely) but the barracks was empty. She searched their bunks before giving up and heading towards the lockers. Luckily, she had not encountered anyone else while traveling through the hallways, which was strange because the Fright Zone was always bustling with life. 

She made it to the locker room without incident and went to her locker, opening it and reaching to the back of it where her necklace should be, only to feel… nothing. She scrunched her eyebrows in confusion and pulled away, peeking inside to see that her necklace was gone. She glanced further down to see a folded piece of paper hiding in the back. She pulled it out and unfolded it, reading Lexie’s familiar scribble. 

_ Callie,  _

_ I had to leave for a mission to a rebel town outside of Elberon. If you come back before I do, I just want you to know that I’m sorry and I hope you’re safe.  _ ~~_ I love you.  _ ~~ _ I miss you. I’ll see you soon. _

_ Lexie. _

Calliope held the note to her chest, heart pounding in her chest. She closed her locker, already making a plan for going to Elberon when she turned around and ran into a person. Her eyes snapped up to meet Terra’s grey eyes. 

“Where have you been, princess? People have been worried about you,” she told Calliope, taking a step forward to back the smaller girl into the locker. 

“T-terra… w-where’s Lexie?” Calliope stuttered softly, eyes falling to the floor as she fell into her old routine. Part of it was to convince them she had not defected, the other was out of pure instinct. 

“Gone. We just got back from the rebel town, which is now under the control of the Horde,” she said, leaning her arm against the locker to tower over Calliope. Calliope’s eyes shot up to look at her.

“Gone? Didn’t she come back with everyone?” she questioned. Terra’s eyebrows shot up in surprise at the smaller girl's voice, having rarely heard it before. 

“She’s dead. Taken out by one of the rebels during the siege. She asked me to take care of you in her absence,” Terra smoothly lied, tucking a strand of hair behind Calliope’s ears before caressing her cheek. 

Calliope swore she felt her heart stop. Dead? Not Lexie… not her Lexie. Lexie was strong, she was smart, there was no way she was… 

She was drawn out of her tumultuous thoughts to Terra pressing her lips against hers. Calliope froze, confused before the disgust settled in the pit of her stomach and she pushed the blonde off of her. 

“What do you think you’re doing?!” Calliope said loudly, trying to move away from her. Terra grabbed onto her arm, holding her in place. 

“You’re mine, princess. I’m making sure you know it,” Terra growled, kissing her again, forcing her mouth open with her tongue. Calliope groaned in frustration, which seemed to egg Terra on who pressed her body flush against Calliope’s, running hands down her sides. Calliope felt bile rise in her throat, she didn’t want this. She didn’t want Terra. She wanted… 

She bit Terra’s tongue, hard and pushed her away again. Terra groaned out in pain, blood dripping down her lip and chin. 

“You bitch!” She screamed, lunging at Calliope. 

Calliope screamed and the locker room exploded. Everything within ten feet of her flew backward, leaving her in an intact circle. She looked around at the damage she caused and the alarm started blaring. Calliope ran out of the locker room, running into cadets who were making their way to the locker room. No one paid her any attention. 

She slipped into the supply closet, panting heavily as a shimmer of sparkles flashes beside her. She did not hear Glimmer speaking or felt her hands on her as they teleported them to the edge of the Whispering Woods where Adora and Bow were waiting for them. She knew they were asking her questions but she couldn’t hear the words, she was too stunned by everything that just happened. She felt herself being teleported again as the best friend squad plus she landed outside the palace of Brightmoon. 

She felt more people surround them as she sunk to her knees, staring at the green grass below her. Grass that Lexie would never enjoy. She vaguely felt hot tears splashing down her cheeks and watched as they fell on the grass blades. She felt more hands on her, people trying to lift her to her feet. But they weren’t her hands. They weren’t her helping her up after a hard simulation. 

Calliope screamed out again, causing everyone around her to fly back from the power of her voice. She dropped back down to her knees, but she couldn’t stop screaming. Wave after wave of magical energy radiated off her, no one able to come within ten feet of her. 

Her hands rested on the ground in front of her and tears blurred her vision as her voice started to run hoarse and the magic started to die. She felt hands touch her shoulders and then pull her back, wrapping her in an embrace. 

She leaned back into the figure, head resting on their shoulder as her voice ceased and the magic died down. She craned her head back slowly to see Queen Angella embracing her and she felt a motherly warmth envelope her as the tears continued their relentless assault down her cheeks. 

“I don’t know what happened but I can tell you lost someone close to you and I am so sorry. I am so sorry you have lost everything precious to you, Calliope and I am sorry we weren’t there to protect you. That I was not there to protect you or your mother,” Angella murmured softly into the soft curls. 

Calliope opened her mouth to tell her it was okay. To tell her her grief, to explain her pain and her anguish, to accept her mothering but nothing came out. Her throat was raw and she coughed, doubling over away from Angella as bright red spots splattered across the grass. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoaaaaaaaa


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Calliope is hurt but she goes looking for Lexie

Chapter Seven

Calliope had been laying in bed for days, staring at the wall adjacent to the bed. She was numb with grief and had completely checked out of reality. Everyone filtered in and out of her room throughout the last few days, bringing food, water, doctors, and company. Some talked with her, others just sat silently with her, to which she was the most grateful. Her voice had not come back yet. 

From the snippets of conversation she had tuned into, the doctors had explained that her throat needed time to heal after using so much power at once. She’s lucky she had not completely damaged her vocal cords. After a couple of days, they started saying it was in her head. She’ll talk when she’s ready. 

By the fifth day, Calliope was out of bed and was in the music room, playing the piano. Everyone thought it was a good sign that she was doing things instead of laying in bed but her music was bringing everyone down. Her sad melodies conjured images of her parents and of Lexie, who was always smiling and laughing. 

Calliope was exhausted, she hadn’t slept well the last five days. One reason was that she was sad but the other was that the voice was back. The haunting melody haunted her waking moments and her dreams. She looked up from the piano as Adora entered the room, carrying a tray of food for her. It was the first time in a few days she had acknowledged someone entering the room and Adora flinched a little from the unexpected eye contact. 

“You look awful. You need to eat. This isn’t healthy,” Adora told her, sitting the tray on top of the grand piano. Calliope looked at the food, sniffing it before grabbing the bowl of clear broth and slurping it down quickly. The warm liquid felt good on her achy throat. 

Adora smiled, taking a seat nearby. “At least you have your appetite back.” 

Calliope looked at her, swallowing the last of her broth before sitting the bowl back down. She took a deep breath before trying to speak, her voice cracking and scratchy. “I-I w-a-n-n-t…” she cleared her throat, trying to dislodge her discomfort. “E-el-b-ber-o-on…”

“You want to go looking for her…” Adora said, causing Calliope to vigorously nod. “Was she part of the siege on a town nearby?” Calliope nodded again, relief starting to flood through her. 

“We can go, She-Ra is needed to take back the town and evacuate the citizens anyways. We were supposed to leave this afternoon, I won’t mind you tagging along.” 

Calliope’s eyes lit up for the first time in days and she jumped up to hug Adora, who laughed before running out to get ready to depart. 

______________________________________________________________________________

Queen Angella had been against the idea of Calliope going into an active war zone while not fully recovered but after some convincing from She-Ra that Calliope would be away from the fighting, Queen Angella reluctantly agreed to let her join the unit going to the town. 

Everyone spread out to fan through the town and Calliope stayed on the outskirts of the town, looking around. The Whispering Woods seemed to surround the town and she sighed, about to just head into the town to look around before the melody picked up to her left. She whipped around and started following it along with the Whispering Woods.

This melody was a little different from the one she had heard the day she had defected from the Horde. This was a tinkling chime, light and soft. She followed it for about ten minutes before stopping at a spot in the grass where a large amount of dry blood splattered across the ground. She examined it, eyes following it as it left the large puddle and trailed into the Whispering Woods. 

“Please be her… Please be her...” Calliope whispered to herself, unable to bring herself to above that volume without her throat flaring up in discomfort. She followed the trail of dried blood into the woods, eyes scanning the thick foliage while her ears twitched with the chiming tune. She tripped over a tree branch that was rutting up and fell, sprawling out onto the ground. 

She groaned softly in pain, pulling herself up to her hands and knees before stopping, listening. The tune had gotten louder closer to the ground and she was able to hear soft whimpers of pain down her. She looked up and quickly started crawling forward, following the noises. She broke through a particularly thick bundle of brush to find Lexie. 

Lexie was laying with her shoulders propped up slightly against a tree that was surrounded by thick foliage, carefully concealing. She was shirtless, the fabric pressing against her side and soaking through with blood. Her skin was pale, paler than Calliope had ever seen it, and covered in a light sheen of sweat. She could see her chest heaving with concentrated effort to breathe. She lifted her head weakly and opened her eyes to see what had come to finish her off, only to be surprised to see Calliope sitting there, staring at her. 

“Am I… dead? Is this my afterlife? It’s beautiful…” Lexie mumbled softly, drinking in the sight of Calliope, who quickly crawled to her and hugged her. Lexie groaned out in pain, causing Calliope to move back quickly. But not before Lexie’s hand shot up and caressed her soft cheek, leaving blood there. 

Calliope leaned into the touch, her tears mixing with the blood. “You’re alive…” she whispered, grabbing Lexie’s hands in both of hers and turning her head to kiss the palm of it softly. Lexie’s breath hitched and her eyes closed.

“I can’t be alive, this is too good to be true… you’re here…” Lexie mumbled, hissing as she adjusted herself. That’s when Calliope looked at the blood-soaked shirt and grimaced, slowly lifting it away from Lexie’s body. 

Lexie cried out softly, biting her lip in pain. Calliope murmured her apologies as she examined the wound, bile rising in her throat. It had mostly stopped bleeding but it was infected, yellow pus oozing from the gaping wound. 

“H-How bad i-is it?” Lexie chattered, teeth clicking together from the blood loss. 

“I… I’ve seen worse,” Calliope tried to say confidently. Lexie examined her face. 

“I’m dying, Callie. I’ve been dying for days…” 

“NO!” Calliope said loudly, regretting it instantly when her throat screamed in protest and Lexie winced at her tone. “You’re not dying on me. I’m not losing you,” she said, softer this time. 

Lexie brushed some strands of hair away from Calliope’s face, trying to memorize the contours of her cheeks, the blueness of her eyes. She had missed her so much, she was all she thought about the last week. 

Calliope was at a loss for what she needed to do, she had never been taught to heal. She caught sight of her necklace resting against the hollow of Lexie’s throat and touched it softly, hearing the soft chiming tune from earlier. 

“H-how did y-you e-even find m-me?” Lexie told her, watching her every move. 

“I… heard music. From my necklace. Seems like a beacon… it led me to you,” she explained, pulling her hand away to take the soiled shirt that Lexie had been using to try to wipe away some of the pus. Lexie hissed out, whimpering. 

“W-where did y-you go? I’ve b-been worried…” Calliope laughed softly at that. 

“Seems like you had bigger things to worry about, Lex,” she told her, pulling the shirt away. “I’ll explain everything once we get you better. It’s a long story.”

“I have time… but not too much of it…” Lexie told her, making Calliope frown at her. 

“You’re not dying. I forbid you from dying. I should have come sooner…” Lexie shushed her then, weakly pulling the smaller girl towards her. Calliope obliged, settling herself down beside her and resting her head gently on her shoulder. 

“I just want to rest like this for now… I just w-want you by m-my side… a-always…” Lexie murmured sleepily, fingers knotting into Calliope’s curls. 

“Don’t sleep. They’ll come looking for us soon and she’ll heal you. You’re going to be okay,” Calliope said, voice watery. 

“It’s so peaceful… I have everything I ever wanted… You came back to me,” Lexie mumbled as her breathing started to even out and slow. 

“No, no, no!” Calliope shot up, patting Lexie’s cheeks. “Don’t go to sleep. You can’t leave me. Please. You’re all I have!” Lexie smiled softly. 

“I won’t leave you, princess. You forbade me…” she chuckled softly, unable to open her eyes. Calliope searched around desperately, hoping beyond hope her friends would pop up at this moment to help. She looked down at Lexie helplessly, feeling her trying to slip away. 

She stared at the wound and a hum fell from her lips before she could stop herself. She felt a little bit of power boil up to the surface as a couple of strands of her loose hair that she could see started to glow white light. She stopped and the light died, the power simmering back down. She grabbed her curls and pressed them softly into Lexie’s wound, who was so far gone that she couldn’t even make a noise of protest. 

“Please… I have the power to heal… lend me strength,” Calliope whispered out into the universe as she felt the words come to her and she started to sing. 

_ Healing thought sent in flight, _

_ Bring the brightest of blessings tonight. _

_ Send this healing white light from above,  _

_ Surround my friend now in healing love.  _

Calliope’s glowed brightly as she kept singing the phrase, feeling the magic leave her and enter into Lexie. Her throat burned with protest but she ignored it, refusing to stop until the color came back to Lexie’s cheeks and there was a deep breath of relief from her. Only then did Calliope stop and pull away from her, the wound closed and healed completely. 

Lexie opened her eyes, her breathing easier and she slowly sat up, looking down at her healed side. She looked up at Calliope, smiling. Calliope smiled back before coughing, blood sputtering up from the strain she had put back on her throat. 

“Callie!” Lexie screamed, grabbing her and holding her as Calliope had her coughing fit, trying not to choke on the metallic tasting blood. 

“My friends… they’re coming soon. Please don’t freak out when they do…” Calliope told her, seeing black spots danced in her vision. 

“What was that?! What’s happening to you! Callie!” Lexie screamed as Calliope collapsed in her arms, blacking out. 

“Calliope?!” Lexie heard someone yell and looked up to see She-Ra standing before them. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Intense?


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lexie confesses her love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nauseatingly fluffy and sexy, you've been warned!

Chapter Eight

It took a lot of convincing for Lexie to back down and let She-Ra pick Calliope up. At first, she had viewed She-Ra and some of the other rebels as enemies trying to hurt them but after they briefly explained that they were friends of Calliope, she had to be convinced not to carry Calliope herself, which should not have been as hard as it was, given that Lexie was still very hurt from her time in the woods. 

Lexie was given a crutch to prop up on since she refused to lean on any of the rebels and watched She-Ra hold her Calliope, the smaller girl looking tiny in the arms of the eight-foot tall warrior princess. 

“Don’t drop her. I’ll kill you if you do,” Lexie threatened as she hobbled beside them, hissing in pain. She-Ra laughed. 

“Noted. Though, I think I can take you in your condition,” she smirked, making the other girl growl at her. 

They made their way back to Brightmoon with the other rebels and She-Ra took Calliope to her room with Lexie hobbling behind her. Queen Angella was already waiting in the chambers with the doctor when they arrived, She-Ra gently placed Calliope on the bed while Lexie twirled in a circle, taking in the extravagance of the bedroom. 

“Let me guess, more strays?” Queen Angella asked lightly while the doctor got to work on Calliope. 

“Not my stray this time. Calliopes. She was ready to fight me for even looking at her,” She-Ra laughed, shrinking back down to Adora. Lexie looked over at them, raising her eyebrow.

“Don’t talk about me while I’m standing right here. And tell him to get his hands off her!” Lexie huffed, heading towards Calliope and glaring at the doctor. 

“He’s just examining her. She had been injured a week ago and was making sure she had not overdone herself. You look like you need an exam as well,” Queen Angella told her. 

“Injured?! What happened?!” Lexie demanded, now glaring at Angella and Adora.

“That’s… a long story. That Calliope should probably tell you. She’s been out of her mind worried about you. We should let her rest,” Adora explained as she went over and gently led Lexie to a chair to sit down. Lexie waved her away, making sure to move the chair as close to Calliope as she could. 

“Bad news,” the doctor started after finishing the exam. “Looks like she reopened the wounds. I suggest plenty of liquids and absolutely no talking for the next week until she’s completely healed. Otherwise, she could permanently damage her vocal cords.”

“It’s my fault. She was healing me, she…” Lexie looked down at her hands, eyebrows scrunched together in confusion. “She healed me. How? She hurt herself to save me.”

“Wait, she what?” Adora asked, eyes going big. 

“She healed me. There were light and a song and I was healed.”

Adora turned to Queen Angella, silently asking only to have Queen Angella shake her head. “The Musicians were known to possess many qualities through song, I’m sure healing was one of them,” Angella explained. 

The doctor came over to Lexie and proceeded to check her over as Angella and Adora silently discussed the possibilities. Lexie shooed at him, wanting to lay beside Calliope and rest but was given a stern look by Angella, to which she settled back down and let the doctor finish their work on her. 

“Whatever she did, she did a good job at it. You'll have a scar on your side and you have a pretty big lump on your head but other than that, I say eat a good meal, drink plenty of water, and sleep. You’ll be up and terrorizing rebels in no time,” the doctor chuckled, clearing his throat after not getting a response from his joke and left the room. 

“Do you wanna-” Adora started before Lexie shook her head furiously. 

“I’m staying with her. She saved my life,” Lexie told her as she got up and started to crawl in beside Calliope. Angella and Adora took that as their cue to leave. Lexie snuggled in, laying her head in the crook of the smaller girl's neck, and drifted off to sleep. 

_____________________________________________________________________________

Calliope felt warm. She opened her eyes, gazing around the darkened room before landing on the figure beside her. Lexie had managed to wrap herself around Calliope like a cocoon, which is why Calliope was starting to overheat. She gently pulled away from the other girl, who settled back down into the covers, and grabbed the cup of water on the nightstand, downing it quickly. 

The cold liquid soothed her burning throat and she poured herself another glass from the pitcher, downing that one as well. When she was satisfied, she scrunched her nose up in disgust as she noticed the dirt and blood caked on her clothes, skin, and hair. She got up and went into the adjoining bathroom, being sure to close the door so as to not bother Lexie. 

She turned on the knobs, opting for a bath in the spacious tub that could easily be a small swimming pool, and poured some oils and bubbles to help soothe her aching muscles. Once it was ready, she shed her clothes and slid in, sitting on the built-in bench with her back facing the door as she let the hot water ease away her worries and closed her eyes. 

She didn’t hear the door open and was unaware of the presence until Lexie was sliding in beside her, cheeks pink with what Calliope assumed was the heat of the tub. Calliope started to say something but Lexie put a finger to her lip to silence her.

“Doctor said you reopened some old wounds and you didn’t need to talk for the next week. Whatever explanation you have can wait until you’re better. For now, do you mind if I wash your hair? It kinda saved my life…” Lexie trailed off, rubbing the back of her neck in embarrassment as she averted her eyes from Calliope’s bare shoulders. Everything else was, thankfully, hidden under all the bubbles. 

Calliope nodded, smiling as she turned her back to her friend and leaned her head backward. Lexie got to work, running her fingers through the wet curls and pulling out the tangles before grabbing the shampoo and working it into her scalp. Calliope closed her eyes, inhaling deeply as she relaxed under Lexie’s skillful fingers. 

Lexie proceeded to rinse out the shampoo, making sure her hair was squeaky clean before repeating the process to ensure all the blood and dirt were completely obliterated. Calliope groaned softly as Lexie massaged into her scalp and Lexie’s breath hitched, hesitating long enough for Calliope to open her eyes and look at her questioningly. 

Lexie shook her head to clear her thoughts, smiled, and rinsed her hair again. Calliope lifted her head up, looking at her thankfully before moving in closer, raising her arms up towards Lexie’s head. Lexie froze as Calliope gently pulled her dark hair out of the tight bun she always kept it in and let it fall down her shoulders, barely scraping the top of the water. 

They looked at each for a moment, a question between them before Lexie leaned forward gently, as to not startle the smaller girl and cupped her face between her hands. Calliope covered the hands with her own, staring into Lexie’s dark eyes as she leaned closer until their lips were barely centimeters apart. 

Lexie whispered softly against her lips, “I love you,” before closing the distance and pressing them together, causing Calliope’s world to light up. Unlike Terra’s kiss, which was controlling and harsh, Lexie’s was soft, gentle, and curious. Their lips seemed to mold together perfectly, as if made for one another. 

They pulled away from each other, panting softly as they smiled before Calliope moved impossibly closer, wrapping her arms around Lexie’s neck before plunging in for another kiss. This one more urgent, more desperate as Lexie wrapped her arms around her back, pressing their bodies together. 

Calliope straddled her without breaking the kiss, leaning over the taller girl as her tongue sought permission to enter her mouth. Lexie obliged, groaning softly when Calliope’s curious tongue explored her mouth and wrestled with her own. Lexie pulled away first but didn’t go far as she ran open mouth kisses down Calliope’s neck, making the smaller girl whimper with need. 

Calliope pulled away from Lexie’s assault, gasping for breath as her chest heaved, at perfect eye level with Lexie. 

“Callie,” Lexie murmured, kissing her sternum softly, feeling her racing heart against her lips. Calliope put a finger under her chin, raising her head up to give her a quizzical look as she started to calm down. Lexie smiled, understanding the unspoken question. 

“I’ve always loved you. When we were younger, I squashed it down cause I couldn’t stand to think of you as anything but my friend, like a sister. As we got older, as you got more beautiful and kind, I fell even more in love with you. I fell in love with the smile that could light up a dark room. I fell in love with the soft voice that sung me to sleep on restless nights. I fell in love with deep blue eyes that made me get lost in a world of our own. I fell in love with your heart, which has so much love in it for those who are so cruel to it. I didn’t say or do anything because of the fraternization rule and because… I didn’t think you loved me the same way. But I could not stand how the others looked at you, I did not what to look at what was mine, which is silly cause you’re not and-” Lexie was cut off with a chaste kiss from Calliope, who was smiling, eyes watering. 

“I take it that I need to shut up now,” Lexie laughed softly after pulling away. “I won’t push you to do anything you don’t want to do. We should finish washing up and try to sleep some more, you have bags under your eyes.”

Calliope nodded in agreement and got off of Lexie as they proceeded to finish washing up and get out of the tub, drying off. Calliope led her back into the bedroom and rummaged through the closet, pulling out the softest clothes she could find as they changed and curled up into bed together. 

Calliope pressed her back into Lexie’s front as the taller girl curled around the smaller one and wrapped her arms around her protectively. 

“I am never letting you out of my sight again,” she murmured against the back of Calliope’s head, causing the smaller girl to smile and drift asleep peacefully. 


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lexie learns more about Calliopes past

Chapter Nine

Over the next week, Calliope hid away from Lexie by making her scarce in the library and, occasionally, the music room. It’s not that she didn’t want to spend time with her, she very much wanted to be by her side but Calliope had a lot to figure out about herself and her feelings for Lexie. Besides, when she said her first words after being completely healed, she wanted to proclaim her love back to Lexie without stuttering or voice cracking. 

Lexie was frustrated by the end of the week by not being able to spend time with Calliope except at night when she snuck back into bed and snuggled in after Lexie was supposed to be asleep. Lexie couldn’t go hunting her down either, she was resting and recovering, and the Brightmoon guards wouldn’t let her out of their sights unless she were in their bedroom. It felt like Calliope was avoiding her on purpose and that hurt Lexie deeply, especially after pouring her heart out and having a very intimate and vulnerable moment with her. 

It was by the end of the week that Lexie had had enough of being cooped up in the room and being by herself in an unknown place. She left the room shortly after lunch and made her way down the hallways, scrunching her nose at the guards as she passed by. She wasn’t sure where she was going but she needed to find Calliope and hold her. She had made a promise not to let her out of her sight. 

She had made it to the end of the hallway when she heard beautiful piano music coming from around the corner. She made it down the new hallway and stopped by the open doorway of the music room, where everyone was gathered, watching Calliope play the piano. Unlike her past melodies, the tunes the past week had been lively and cheerful, conjuring up images of her and Lexie as children, running around the room and laughing. 

Lexie was entranced by the image before her. Mostly of Calliope sitting at the piano with her back facing her, wearing a beautiful, white gown that flowed past her feet and her hair curled past the piano bench. She loved how Calliope’s slender fingers danced over the keys vigorously, keeping up the lively tune that had the crowd laughing and dancing around as well. It was only when she managed to tear her eyes away from that she noticed the image playing out before her.

She had not experienced much of Calliope’s magic yet, so it was fascinating to watch the younger versions of themselves playing around the feet of the princesses. Calliope ended the song and started up a different melody, just as lively as the first and a young couple appeared, waltzing around the piano with a small bundle in between them. If Lexie looked hard enough, she could make out a tiny face nestled between the two beam adults. 

Growing slightly impatient, Lexie went forward and wrapped her arms around Calliope from behind, causing the smaller girl to freeze as the music died suddenly and the image of her parents dissipated. 

“Sorry,” Lexie murmured, kissing the crown of her head. “That was beautiful, where did you learn to play like that? The Horde doesn’t have many pianos,” she said teasingly, letting go to join Calliope on the bench. 

Calliope turned her head away to look at the other princesses who all silently came to the conclusion to vacate the room while the newly found couple discussed some important topics. Lexie raised her eyebrows in confusion as everyone left, Adora giving them one final look of encouragement before closing the door on their way out. 

Calliope turned back to her and took her hands in her, rubbing the knuckles with her thumb. “I love you,” she said to Lexie, proud that her voice had come out as strong as it did.

Lexie blinked before a large smile graced her face. “You do? Then why have you been avoiding me? You have a lot of explaining to do, princess,” she teased again, kissing Calliope’s nose gently. 

“I wanted my first words to be my love for you before I said anything else. Lexie, I thought I lost you. I went back to the Fright Zone to get you but Terra had told me you had died during the siege and I was overcome with grief for days. I couldn’t imagine a life where you weren’t in it and I never want to again. Lex, you are the best thing in my life and I love you. I have always loved you and I never want to be separated again,” Calliope told her, both girls inching together closer while she spoke until Lexie had pulled Calliope into her lap, wrapping her arms around the slender girl's waist. 

Lexie trailed soft kisses along the exposed collarbone that the gown had neglected to cover up, causing a soft moan to leave Calliope’s lips. Lexie trailed them up to her neck, taking small nips before running her lips across her jawline and ending with a searing kiss between the two of them. 

“I will never let that bitch, Terra, try to separate us again,” Lexie mumbled against Calliope’s lips. Calliope stiffened, pulling away slightly. 

“What do you mean?” She questioned.

“I didn’t get hurt during the siege. Terra lured me away from the battle and tried to kill me. Luckily, she was too stupid to make sure I was dead before dragging me into the woods so I was able to hang on until you found me.”

“She…” Calliope gasped, clutching onto Lexie’s shirt. 

“What’s wrong, my love? I lived and we never have to see her again,” Lexie explained, burying her face into the crook of her neck. Calliope gulped and Lexie could feel her heartbeat quickening. 

“Terra kissed me. When I went to the Fright Zone to find you,” Calliope said and Lexie stiffened, arms tightening around her. 

“I kinda blew up the locker room… I hope it killed her,” Calliope told her, making Lexie’s head shot up in shock. 

“How did you manage that?”

Calliope gestured to the piano. “You saw it. I’m magic. I’m actually the lost princess of the Kingdom of Musica. The Horde laid siege to my kingdom when I was a baby, destroying it and killing everyone but took me in. I’m the last Musician…” Calliope explained, biting her lip. 

Lexie started to laugh softly, causing Calliope to huff in anger before sliding off her lap, moving away from her. 

“How can you laugh?! My entire family is dead!” Calliope yelled, the glass tinkling softly. Lexie stood up, stopping her laughter and made her way back over to the other girl. 

“That’s not why I was laughing. That’s horrible and I am so sorry. I’m laughing because Shadow Weaver and everyone else was right. You are a princess,” Lexie explained, swooping down to take Calliope’s hand and kiss it. Calliope blushed softly, pulling her hand away gently in embarrassment. 

“The princess of nothing. I no longer have a kingdom or a people. I don’t have a family anymore. The Horde took everything from me…” she trailed off, biting her lip. 

“They didn’t take everything. You still have me. You have this power in you. We can rebuild your kingdom after this war. We can teach the people of Etheria about the Musicians and bring it back to them. The Horde took so much from you but left you with more.” 

Calliope nodded. “I need to learn more about my kingdom, about my family. My parents…” she reached up to Lexie and touched the necklace sitting at the hollow of her throat. 

“Do you want your necklace back? I’m sorry I took it, I needed something of you with me when I left…” Lexie started to untie it before Calliope grabbed her hands to stop her. 

“No, I love it on you. It helped me find you, that’s handy for the future. Besides, let’s say it makes you the first citizen of my new kingdom,” Calliope smiled and Lexie picked her up, twirling her around joyously. Calliope laughed, pecking her quickly on the lips. 

“Where do we start learning? I’m sure you also need to learn how to use your magic. Where should we start?” Lexie asked, sitting her back down on her feet. 

“I want to talk to Queen Angella about it first. She knew my mom, she may be able to tell me more and send me somewhere where I can learn more. I also need to know about a runestone, if my family even has one.” 

“Well, sounds like a perilous mission to me. Adventure! Excitement! Romance…” Lexie smirked, causing Calliope to giggle and wrap her arms around the taller girl's neck to kiss her. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for all the support I'm getting and sorry for bombing out so many chapters at once! I have a bug in my brain and I have been writing two to three chapters a day while the kids are in virtual learning!


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Calliope finds out more about her kingdom and her family

Chapter Ten

Calliope took a deep breath before knocking on Queen Angella’s door. Lexie stood behind her, fingers lightly touching her lower back in encouragement. Calliope had told her she could do this by herself but Lexie insisted that she shouldn’t have to and tagged along. 

She heard Queen Angella tell her to enter and she opened the door, Lexie closing it behind her as they took in the room. Queen Angella sat at a desk, paperwork scattered everywhere as she watched the two girls enter the room. She stood, in all her elegance and grace, and motioned for them to take a seat on the couch in front of the desk. 

Both girls took a seat, Lexie pulling Calliope close so that her arm was draped over her smaller frame. Calliope laid her hand to rest on top of Lexie’s knee, giving it a small squeeze in appreciation for the support. 

“I’ve been waiting for you to come to find me, I’m surprised it took you so long,” Angella told her, taking her seat again. 

“I was… distracted,” Calliope blushed, looking at Lexie who smirked back at her. 

“I can see that,” Angella chuckled. “I’m sure you have a lot of questions…” 

“I do. Too many. A lifetime of questions. But first… my kingdom. Tell me about it, please.” Angella nodded, clasping her hands in front of her on the desk.

“The Kingdom of Musicia was the kingdom of music. It was beautiful and always filled with singing and dancing. Different instruments and melodies carried different functions for the people and could be used for various tasks like cooking, cleaning, telling stories, and healing. There were endless possibilities to the magic of their music. You’ve seen some of those capabilities first hand as your magic has grown. The royal family also had a special task, they were the guardians of…” Angella paused, scrunching her eyebrows in confusion.

“The guardians of what?” Calliope pushed, leaning forward in her seat. 

“I… I can’t seem to recall… it’s there but it won’t come to me. But either way, it was a task only the royal family could complete.”

“What about the royal family? My parents? What were they like?” Calliope bounced her leg nervously, causing Lexie to put a reassuring hand on it to calm it. 

A small smile graced Angella’s features as she picked up a framed photo from her desk and stood up, coming around to hand it to Calliope, who examined it. The man and woman from her dream vision stood there, smiling brilliantly with a baby settled in the woman’s arms, not bundled up as she had previously seen. 

“Awww, look at how cute you were as a baby!” Lexie gushed, looking over her shoulder at the photo. 

“That was taken about six months after you were born before…” Angella took a deep breath. “A month before the kingdom fell.” 

Calliope gently traced the contours of the woman’s face. 

“You have her eyes. You have her heart. You have his smile. You have his courage. You are such a beautiful blend of the two,” Angella recounted, pulling a chair up to sit in front of them. 

“What were they like…” Calliope looked up at her, seeing the sad expression on the Queen’s face. 

“They were… my best friends. Mine and my husbands before…” She sighed. “I lost everyone I ever loved within months of each other. First, my husband during a battle that I insisted on. Then them and you, when I was too scared to try to help anyone. Your mother was born royal, we grew up together and wreaked havoc on our parents,” Angella chuckled at the memory. 

“Your father grew up in a good family and they met at Princess Prom when they were sixteen and fell madly in love. I swear, it was love at first sight as we danced around and I saw the moment their eyes met across the dance floor. They were both entranced by the other and danced together the rest of the night. I had never seen her so happy before. They courted and within a couple of years, they got married and took over the Kingdom in their early 20s when her father, your grandfather, passed away.” 

Calliope nodded along, completely enraptured in the story as she clutched the photograph to her chest. 

“They struggled for a while to have children. You were their miracle, the product of true love. I wish they could see you now, how beautiful you grew up to be. How kind you are despite the horrible circumstances you endured. They would be so proud of you, as I am.” 

“I like to think I have something to do with that,” Lexie said, arms winding around Calliope’s waist as her chin rested on her shoulder. “I refused to let that place ruin her. She was always too… innocent for the Horde.” 

“She’s not completely wrong. I wanted to be bitter and angry but Lexie always reminded me who I was. She kept me shielded from the worst of it, she was my rock,” Calliope said, squeezing Lexie's knee again. “My parents sound amazing. What happened?”

Angella’s features grew dark. “I’m not completely sure, I only saw the aftermath. I can only guess that the Horde ambushed in the middle of the night when defenses were down. I remember a blinding light that night coming from the direction of the kingdom but I didn’t think it was anything serious. We never got a distress call, nothing. It happened so quickly… the entire city was destroyed and there were no survivors. We found your father but… we never found you or your mother.”

“Do you think she’s alive? If you didn’t find her, that must be good? Maybe she survived as I did!” Calliope said excitedly. 

“I don’t think that’s the case. You only survived because the Horde took you in. She would have come here if she had survived. Something else happened but I’m not sure what,” Angella explained to her, watching as Calliope’s shoulders sagged. 

“I need to know more. We want to rebuild after the war and I need to know everything so we will be able to. Is there somewhere I can go to learn more?” 

Angella nodded. “Bow’s fathers, George and Lance, have a library in the Whispering Woods. I’m sure they won’t mind you crashing there to study. I’m sure you would want to visit the ruins as well. They’re close by the Beacon, where you met She-Ra. She can lead you back that way when you are ready.” 

Calliope nodded gratefully, standing up with Lexie right behind her. “Thank you so much for all the information. It was helpful. My mom was lucky to have a friend like you.”

Tears formed in Angella’s eyes as Calliope stepped forward and hugged her tightly, Angella returning the hug with no hesitation. They embraced each other for a couple of moments, as if it would be the last time they ever saw each other before breaking apart. 

“You are going to make a wonderful princess to your kingdom one day. Take care of her, Lexie. You have something special here,” Angella told her as Lexie pulled Calliope to her, smiling.

“You don’t have to tell me twice, Your Majesty. She’s a diamond, for sure.” 

Angella waved them away as they turned to leave before she stopped them again, picking up the frame that had been left on the couch to give to Calliope.

“Something to remember them by. They would want you to have it,” she explained as Calliope tried to decline the gift. “I have a lifetime of memories with them, this is the least I can give you.”

Calliope reluctantly took the frame, grateful for the gift as she and Lexie left the room, leaving Angella alone. 


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Memories and the library

Chapter Eleven

_Calliope was standing in a nursery and, judging from the moonlight streaming in from the floor to ceiling, it was nighttime. She did a twirl, taking in the room with its blue walls, tile floor, and various toys strewn around such as a rocking horse. A rocking chair sat close to the window and in the middle of the room was a white crib with a singing mobile twirling over it._

_She walked towards the crib and peeked over the side, watching baby-her sleep soundly amongst the pillows and stuffies._ “Awwww…” _she cooed softly, stroking the baby’s hair softly before feeling the floor shake beneath her. Calliope grabbed onto the crib and looked out the window, seeing a mushroom plume of fire and smoke poof up from the city below. Baby Calliope started crying from the disturbance as the doors to the nursery swung open._

_She looked up to see her mother and father rushing into the room and her mother scooping up the baby, trying to soothe the scared infant. The woman looked up at the man, tears in her eyes._

“What can we do? They’re taking out citizens. How could we be so foolish to have everyone gather here and leave ourselves defenseless?” _her mother cried as her father hugged his small family._

“There’s no way we could have known they were going to strike, they had been so silent lately and they are cowards to strike at night. The citizens are evacuating as quickly as they can,” _he told her as the ground rumbled again from another bombardment._ “We must hurry and join them, my love.” 

_Her mother nodded and the couple rushed out as Calliope trailed them. They rushed out of the palace and down the marble steps that Calliope remembered from last time as smoke and fire came from the burning city. Citizens were screaming as they ran past and buildings crumbled._

_Her mother stopped on the steps, looking back up towards the palace as the baby wailed in her arms from the chaotic noise surrounding them._

“Musa! What are you doing?!” _Her father screamed, running back up to his wife and child._

“Take the baby,” _her mother said softly, holding the baby out to him._

“What?! Musa, we have to go!” 

“Ronen, please! Take Calliope! The heart…” _a bright, blue light appeared over the city as her mother looked up towards it, stilling. Her father took the baby from her arms, backing away as he shielded his daughter's eyes from the light._

“Musa! No! Please! We have to go! Our Kingdom needs you, I need you!” _her father begged. Her mother turned and Calliope gasped, staring at her white eyes, completely void of pupils._

“The heart is trying to protect us. Protect our daughter, Ronen. I love you,” _she said as she is lifted off the ground towards the light._

_____________________________________________________________________________

Calliope shot up in bed, sweat clinging to her skin as she grasped the sheets to her body, trembling from the dream. Lexie sat up, on high alert as she scanned the room, fists clenched and in a fighting position to defend them. Noticing no danger, she relaxed slightly before turning her attention to her girlfriend. 

“Callie? Did you have a nightmare?” She yawned before pulling her girlfriend into her arms, wrapping the sheets around both of them. Calliope nodded, settling into her arms as Lexie eased them back into a lying position, rubbing soothing circles on her back. 

“Do you wanna talk about it? Or just cuddle?” Lexie mumbled, trying not to drift off as Calliope snorted at her girlfriend, cuddling into her side as her bare legs tangled into Lexies. They could lay there for a couple more hours before they got to work. 

They had been at George and Lance’s library for a couple of months, crashing in one of the spare rooms they kept on hand and spent their days combing through the shelves, looking for information on the Kingdom of Musicia and its people. George and Lance had been beyond excited to have the pair there, especially Calliope, who has helped them identify different musical artifacts they kept on hand and how to play long lost instruments. 

The time away from the palace and being alone together had also led to… a more intimate understanding of each other. Calliope nuzzled into Lexie’s neck, laying gentle kisses there that caused the taller girl to groan softly and roll over to pin Calliope into the mattress. She giggled, wrapping her arms around Lexie’s neck before they shared a passionate kiss. 

“So much for sleep,” Lexie mumbled against Calliope’s lips before pulling the sheet over them. 

_____________________________________________________________________________

They walked hand in hand down to the dining room where George and Lance were already enjoying breakfast, papers scattered around them. Research never ended here, even at mealtime. 

“Oooh! Calliope! Good timing! I found a scroll about lyrical healing that you may be interested in!” George exclaimed before they even made it to the table. Calliope gave Lexie a quick kiss before joining George to look over the scroll. Lexie smiled, taking a place near Lance and serving herself a cup of tea and some eggs. 

“Mail from Brightmoon for Calliope. I know those two are gonna be preoccupied for a while,” Lance told her, sliding the letter over in her direction. Lexie nodded in agreement, watching the two-pour over the scroll. She picked up the letter, examining it before making Calliope her cup of tea and rounding the table to sit both items beside her. 

“Third letter from Queen Angella, she must like you,” Lexie teased her. 

“She knows my family, she writes when she remembers information, and… she somewhat tries to take over a mom role for me. It’s kinda nice… having someone care for me like that,” Calliope told her, opening the letter to read it over. 

“I care for you!” Lexie pouted, making Calliope laugh at her. 

“Your caring is different from hers, my love. Where are you starting today?”

“West wing, I saw some texts about nomadic lifestyles of Musicians there. Seems strange since your people were all in the same place when…” Lexie trailed off when Calliope stiffened, gripping the letter in her hands. 

“They were there because of me. My parents were introducing the new princess to the citizens and the Horde attacked at night during the celebrations. That’s why the nomads were there. Do you think some of my people still exist?” she asked softly. 

“Of course they do!” George exclaimed, hugging her. “If they were nomads, some probably weren’t at the celebration or left early or escaped.”

“Then why hasn’t anyone heard of them?”

“Probably went into hiding after the attack,” Lance explained. “I would think the Horde probably had a hunt down order enforced to try to wipe out the stragglers.” 

“That doesn’t make me feel any better. Why would they destroy my kingdom? We were just musicians. We just wanted to play music and help others. Why target us? Something is missing…” 

“We’ll find it. Stop worrying so much. It’s only been a couple of months,” Lexie told her, squeezing her shoulders. “Drink your tea, eat your breakfast and start reading. I’ll be in the west wing if you need me.” 

Lexie kissed her cheek before heading off to start her research. Calliope drank her tea as she went back to reading the letter from Angella. 

_Dearest Calliope,_

_I hope you and Lexie are doing well. How is the research going? Find any answers yet? Again, I encourage you to head to the ruins of your kingdom to find additional information. When you decide to, be brave. It’s going to be difficult to face the past but I know you will be able to handle it. Please come visit soon, everyone dearly misses you._

_Best regards, Angella_

_____________________________________________________________________________

Calliope joined Lexie after breakfast, finding her girlfriend curled up in a chair with books piled around her, eyebrows scrunched up in concentration as she read through the book she had in her hand. Calliope smiled at the sight, going to lean over the back of the chair to take a look at the book as well. 

“Find anything interesting, my love?” she asked, skimming over the page quickly as Lexie leaned her head back to look at her. 

“Of course. Apparently, the Musicians were nomads, like I suggested earlier. According to this text, because of the variety of skills that music could provide and since it’s considered a universal language that anyone, even someone who has never heard a tune in their life, could understand, that the people would travel to help Etheria where needed. There were small colonies located in almost every kingdom with each community developing its own musical preferences for the area. For example, Plumerian Musicians developed music for growing plants and healing while Salineas Musicians developed it for fishing and calming storms. The Kingdom of Musicia had a capital that everyone could convene in, which is where you were born.” 

Calliope nodded, surprised at the different applications for her music. “Any idea why the capital is located in the Whispering Woods? It seems a little inconvenient?”

“No idea, it doesn’t mention much about why they chose this location. Just brief mentions of their runestone and I can guess that it is probably the most central place in Etheria, which made it easy to travel to from any kingdom.”

“Also made it an easy target for the Horde,” Calliope noted, frowning. Lexie just shook her head, marking her page before closing the book. 

“If it was that easy, they would have destroyed the kingdom earlier than what they did. The Whispering Woods is not easy to navigate and the Horde has been unable to do it since. Something else must have happened.” 

Calliope sighed before coming around and plopping down in Lexie’s lap, taking the book from her hands. “So we are still left with more questions than answers. I think it’s about time we went to the ruins and started investigating there.” Lexie nodded in agreement, wrapping her arms around her girlfriend, who seemed deep in thought. She smirked before nipping at her neck gently, causing a little gasp and a hum of appreciation to escape Calliope.

“Your humming while we make love, while at first distracting, is very sexy,” Lexie smiled, causing Calliope to blush and push her girlfriend away. 

“That’s so embarrassing! I can’t help it! It feels… natural!” she pouted and Lexie pulled her back, laughing at her expression before kissing her forehead. 

“Again, I find it very sexy and soothing. I’m teasing you, love,” Lexie told her as Calliope huffed at her, smiling. 

The ground started to shake then, books falling off shelves as Lexie curled around Calliope to protect her, reality shattering around them. 

_____________________________________________________________________________

Sunlight streamed through the tall windows, warming Calliope’s face as her eyes cracked open. Yawning, she sat up and stretched, appreciating the peacefulness of the morning before a maid barged into her room. 

“Oh, sorry! Did I wake you, Your Highness?” the maid asked, scurrying over to a large armoire to pull out a dress. 

“No, I just woke up, actually. Are father and mother already at the breakfast table?” she asked, swinging her legs over the side of the bed to stand and continue stretching out the kinks in her back and neck. 

“Yes, ma’am. They’re waiting for you. I have your dress right here,” she told her, hanging the pink fabric over a changing blind. “After breakfast, you have your school lessons in the library and after lunch, your piano and cello lessons in the parlor with afternoon tea scheduled in the garden.” 

Calliope nodded, heading over to the changing blind and getting ready for the day. “Is mother joining me for afternoon tea or is it just me again today?”

“The Queen is planning on having afternoon tea with you while your father is in a war meeting, Your Highness,” the maid informed her. Calliope came out from behind the blind, adjusting the babydoll dress slightly before sitting at her vanity, where the maid picked up a hairbrush and started coiffing her hair. 

“And is Princess Glimmer and Bow scheduled to be coming over in a couple of days for the slumber party?” Calliope questioned, putting her treble clef necklace on around her neck, clasping the fancy silver chain behind her. 

“Yes ma’am. All the preparations for the party have been arranged and everything is going according to schedule.”

“Thank you. You’re dismissed,” she told the maid, who nodded and exited the room as Calliope pulled a few stray strands of hair down to frame her face. She stared at her reflection in the mirror, something seeming off before blinking, the image momentarily reflecting herself looking ragged, tired, and dirty before flashing back to her original image. 

She shook her head, rubbing her eyes to see if the image changed again but it didn’t, just reflecting back her confused expression before she gave up and left to join her parents for breakfast. 

As she entered the garden to join her parents at the gazebo, she inhaled deeply the smell of roses and jasmine flowers, her favorite. She approached and a guard came to her side, escorting her up the steps to the breakfast table. 

“Mom, daddy! Good morning!” she exclaimed, taking a seat opposite of her parents at the circular table. 

“Good morning, my little muse,” her father greeted, smiling as she served herself some eggs and bacon from the layout before her. 

“Ronen, I thought I was your muse,” her mother teased, taking a sip from her tea. 

“That is why she is my little muse but you are my main muse, My Queen,” he chuckled, bringing her hand to his lips to kiss softly. 

“Daddy, why can’t you join mom and me for tea this afternoon? Do you really have to go to the meeting?” Calliope pouted.

“It’s an important meeting, little muse. The Horde grows closer to our borders every day and we must protect ourselves. I have to keep you and your mother safe, don’t I?” 

Calliope nodded, accepting the answer without questions before eating her breakfast. Today felt so perfect. The sunshine was warming her skin, the flowers were in full bloom, and her parents were here, enjoying their time together before the next meeting separated the family. 

“Mom, something weird happened in my room this morning. I was getting ready in front of the mirror when the image flashed and I saw a ragged version of myself,” she said, absentmindedly as she nibbled on her bacon. 

Her mother stiffened slightly, blinking slowly in confusion before a smile graced her lips. “I’m sure you were just seeing things, my sweet. Blinked too quickly or the light in your room blinded you for a moment. I wouldn’t worry too much about it.”

“But… doesn’t today seem… too perfect?” she questioned. Her parents looked at each other before laughing. 

“You’re complaining about a perfect day, little muse?” her father asked, trying to stop his laughter at his daughter's distraught expression.

“I’m not complaining! Something just doesn’t feel right,” she explained, huffing at their laughter. 

_ Calliope?  _ She heard a soft whisper behind her and she whirled around in her seat to see a blurry image of a young woman, close to her age with brown hair and brown eyes, staring at her. Calliope blinked and the image was gone but she stood up suddenly, knocking her chair back in fright. The guards jumped up from their stupor, on high alert as they tried to find the source of distress to the princess. 

“Calliope?” Her mother questioned, standing to circle the table and place a gentle hand on her daughter's shoulders. “What’s wrong? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“I feel like I have…” she mumbled, too softly for her mother to hear before pulling away and giving her the most reassuring smile she could muster. “I’m sorry, mom. I must still be tired, is all. Can I go to my lessons now?” The Queen nodded, worried still etched on her face as Calliope went and gave her father a kiss on the cheek before bounding out of the garden. 

_

It was late afternoon by the time she made it back to the garden for tea time with her mother. Tutoring and music lessons had taken a lot out of Calliope and she was excited to have a fresh cup of tea to ease her stress. She had heard the voice a couple more times that day, seeing a blurry image accompany each one before it disappeared and left her uneasy. 

As she entered, she noticed her mother standing off to the side of the gazebo, examining her rose bushes. She approached her quickly. 

“Mom-” Calliope gasped as her mother turned to her, her eyes pure white with no trace of her pupils present. Calliope backed up quickly, falling down before looking up again to see her mother back to normal, looking worried for her daughter. 

“Calliope?! What’s wrong, my sweet?” The Queen knelt down, examining her daughter for injuries as Calliope stared at her, blinking rapidly to make sure she wasn’t still seeing anything. 

“I-I’m fine. I just…” Calliope was at a loss for words, she couldn’t explain what was happening to her without sounding completely crazy. 

“Overworked, I’m sure. And famished, your instructors said you skipped lunch to play the harp. Come along, let’s have tea,” The Queen stood up, helping her daughter as they made their way back to the gazebo, Calliope looking around wearily as she took her usual seat. A maid came up and poured their tea for them, sitting the plates of scones and biscuits close. 

“Mom…” Calliope started but stopped, unsure what to say. 

“I love you so very much, my sweet,” her mother said, smiling at her before taking a sip of her tea. 

“I love you too, mom. I’m glad we can have this time together. It feels like we are never together,” she told her, feeling a familiar sense of loneliness and loss settle over her. 

“We’ll always be together, darling. I’m not really gone,” her mother said with a smile. Calliope blinked, confused. 

“Of course you’re not gone, you’re sitting right here. Mom, are you okay?” She turned her head to find a guard in case she needed to get the palace physician but noticed the garden was completely empty. Confused, she turned back to see her mom looking at her with those white eyes again, a sad smile gracing her features as she came around the table and placed a hand over her daughter's cheek. 

“Mom…?”

“This isn’t real, my darling. The portal is playing a trick on you,” she said softly, kissing her daughter's forehead. 

“I-I don’t understand! Portal? Mom, what’s going on?” Calliope pleaded as she watched the garden start to fade away. 

“You grew up so beautifully, my sweet girl. That is all I ever hoped for you. You will never reach your full potential as long as the runestone is locked under the First One's tech. She-Ra can help unlock it and balance the planet again.”

“You’re not making any sense! The runestone?! What’s our runestone, mom?!” Calliope screamed as her mother was pulled away from her by a bright light and everything faded away. 

_____________________________________________________________________________

Calliope gasped awake, clutching her chest as she tried to suck in air as she stared up at the ceiling of George and Lance’s library. Ceiling? 

“Callie?!” She heard a voice near her and turned her head as she saw Lexie roll over on her hands and knees a few yards away, looking around desperately before spotting her girlfriend and crawling towards her. 

“Lex?” she whispered, sitting up as she caught her breath, rubbing her head. 

“What happened? Are you okay?” Lexie asked, checking her over before pulling her into a tight hug. 

“A portal… someone opened a portal…” Calliope hugged Lexie back tightly, shuddering. 

They heard the doors bang open and looked up to see George and Lance run in, checking around for the girls. 

“Are you two okay?” Lance asked, going over to help them up off the floor. They both nodded. 

“That was…” George said softly, wrapping an arm around Lance’s waist. 

“Not real… yet… so beautiful,” Calliope murmured, causing the other three to stare at her in disbelief. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay and the filler! I will be rewriting this chapter soon because I am unsatisfied with how it turned out and could have a lot more detail to it!


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The coronation, a run-in with Shadow Weaver, and an unexpected surprise

Chapter Twelve

Calliope hated this. It had been about a month since the portal was opened and Queen Angella was lost closing it. Her heart ached for the loss of the Queen and the motherly figure she had found in the angelic being. It especially hurt now that they were entering Brightmoons gates to attend Princess Glimmer’s coronation. 

Lexie squeezed her shoulder reassuringly as they nodded towards the guards before entering the palace. Walking through the palace made bile rise up in Calliope’s throat and she swallowed hard to push it back. It had not helped that she had been feeling sick for a couple of weeks, much to the worry of her overprotective girlfriend. 

“Calliope! Lexie!” They turned down a hallway to see Adora running towards them, waving. They waved back, meeting the enthusiastic girl halfway. “I’m glad you guys came. I know it will mean a lot to Glimmer.”

“We wouldn’t miss this. Angella was…” Calliope trailed off, feeling her stomach roll. Adora nodded, not needing the other girl to finish. 

“She’ll be missed. Are you still able to do the music?” Adora asked as she led them down the hallway. 

“Yea, it’ll be no problem. Am I doing a tribute as well as the coronation music?” Calliope asked as they were led into the great hall where the coronation would take place. 

“I… I don’t know how Glimmer will feel about that… she’s been upset about her mom and I don’t want to drag up anymore hurt feelings,” Adora rambled on as Calliope broke away from them, making her way to the stage to check out the instruments. 

“I think the tribute would be a good touch. It’s as much for everyone as it is for Angella. You should let Callie perform it,” Lexie told Adora, placing a hand on her shoulder as she watched her girlfriend with a worried expression. 

“Is Calliope okay? You know… since the portal…” Adora chewed on her lip worriedly. 

“She’s been having nightmares more frequently and she’s been vomiting the last couple of weeks. It really tore her up, especially the news about Angella.” 

Calliope ran her hand over the grand piano as the bile rose up to her throat again. She quickly descended again to head to the bathroom before Lexie grabbed her arm. 

“Are you okay?” She asked, concern written all over her face. 

“I’m fine… a long trip, I just need to freshen up. I’ll be back…” she pulled her arm away quickly and rushed out of the room and down the hallway to the nearest bathroom. 

Calliope collapsed onto her hands and knees and proceeded to upchuck everything she had eaten that day, which wasn’t much. She prayed that Lexie didn’t follow her in, she was tired of vomiting in front of her girlfriend. She resolved to visit the palace physician before they headed back out to visit her kingdom's ruins. 

She stood up, shakily and flushed before going to the sink to rinse out her mouth and splash water on her face to freshen up. At least her stomach settled after getting rid of the stuff making it queasy, to begin with. Hopefully, it was nothing more than a stomach bug or stress. She took a deep breath to settle herself before walking out of the restroom and nearly bumping into none other than Shadow Weaver, who was being escorted by a couple of Brightmoon guards. 

Calliope stiffened, gripping her hands together in front of her. “S-Shadow W-weaver…” 

“My, speak up, Calliope. Still going on with that stutter and that soft voice. I can never understand what you are saying,” Shadow Weaver berated her, tsking under her mask. Calliope straightened, trying to make herself taller. 

“I didn’t know they allowed prisoners to roam freely here. Seems like an issue that needs to be discussed with the new queen,” she told her, more loudly which surprised the witch but she did not let it show. 

“I am now a guest here since I had given important information about the Horde to the Rebellion. I wasn’t aware they allowed the riffraff to roam freely as well, princess,” the witch hissed, causing Calliope to flinch. 

“You are no longer allowed to speak to me that way. I am not a cadet anymore, I am a princess. But you knew that all along, didn’t you?” Calliope accused her, eyes narrowing. 

“I will speak to you, however, I deem fit, you are still nothing more than a worthless waste of space! I took you thinking you had some great magical potential but you have been nothing more than a disappointment, along with Catra! You both don’t deserve to breathe the same air as Adora or Lexie!”

“Hey!” Calliope heard Lexie say from down the hallway as she stomped towards them, putting herself in between Shadow Weaver and her girlfriend. Adora was not far behind, eyebrows scrunched in anger. 

“That is enough! You will not speak to her like that, ever!” 

“Oh, Lexie,” Shadow Weaver reached out to caress her face but Lexie slapped the hand away. 

“Don’t touch me. Stay away from us,” Lexie warned her, turning to pull Calliope away but she refused to move, fists clenched. 

“You took me? My family… What did you do? Where is my father?!” Calliope yelled, trying to step towards the witch but Lexie held her back. Shadow Weaver laughed. 

“That weak man could not protect you. Do you know how easy it was to snatch you from his arms? He didn’t even put up a fight. He was quickly disposed of.”

Calliope screamed as Lexie picked her up and carried her away, her girlfriend fighting her down the hallway. Some very colorful language was thrown at Shadow Weaver as well, which both surprised and impressed Lexie that such foul language could come from a small thing. She managed to pull them into a spare room and close the door behind her before setting her tiny girlfriend down, who sunk to her knees and trembled. 

“Calliope, what happened? How did you even… Are you okay?” Lexie questioned, going to put her hands on her shoulders before Calliope shrugged them off. 

“Leave me alone,” she told her, wrapping her arms around her chest. 

“Callie…”

“Leave. Me. Alone! Just leave me alone! Go away, Lex!” Lexie flinched back at Calliope’s tone, hesitant to leave her alone like this but deciding it was for the best to give her some space. 

Calliope was livid. Livid wasn’t a good enough word to describe the rage she felt inside her at Shadow Weaver, the Horde, and the war. She was angry at her situation and the death of her parents, her people, her kingdom. There was so much rage inside her, she felt as if she would combust any moment. 

She took a deep breath, tensing her body and holding it in before releasing a long, steady breath and releasing the tension as well. She took a couple more deep breaths to ground herself. She was still angry but the boiling was down to a simmering and she managed to pick herself up and head out of the room to get ready for the coronation. 

_____________________________________________________________________________

The coronation was beautiful and Calliope’s tribute to Angella brought the room to tears as her angelic voice conjured images of the deceased queen. She bowed at the end of the performance as the crowd cheered and she exited the stage quickly, having had the band set up properly to continue playing throughout the dinner. 

Queen Glimmer came up to her after she exited the stage and swallowed her up in a hug, which Calliope returned with vigor. 

“Thank you! That was absolutely beautiful! I know she would have loved it!” Glimmer exclaimed, pulling away to wipe a tear off her cheek. 

“I just wish she was here to have heard it. She had written to me about visiting but… I was so wrapped up in our research that I neglected to do so. I wish I had taken her up on the offer.”

“You always have a friend and a home here at Brightmoon, Callie. Anything you need, just ask and I will make it happen. I just wish you and Lexie could stay longer! Do you really have to leave in a couple of days?” Glimmer asked her, having taken the girl's hands into her own. 

“There is still so much we have to learn. The portal had put a hindrance on our previous travel plans, unfortunately. But there is a favor I need to ask,” Calliope lowered her voice, looking around the crowd. Glimmer leaned in closer. 

“Anything you want, Callie.”

“Could you set me up with the palace physician for tomorrow? I haven’t felt well and Lexie is worrying. I want to make sure I’m well before we travel,” she explained quietly, not wanting everyone to know she had been ill lately. Glimmer nodded. 

“I’ll send them a message tonight and let you know when to meet them tomorrow. I hope it’s nothing serious.”

“Nah! Probably just stress or a bug. I just want to remedy it before Lexie has a cow!” she giggled as her girlfriend made her way over to them, wearing a beautiful blue jumpsuit that accentuated her figure. It complimented Calliope’s blue dress, which they did not intentionally mean to match. 

Lexie came up and wrapped her arm around Calliope’s waist but left it there loosely. They had not talked since the incident earlier and she was still hesitant of Calliope’s mood. “What are you two gossiping about?”

“Nothing!” Glimmer said too quickly, causing Lexie to narrow her eyes at her. “Look at the time! Gotta go! Lots of guests to greet! Bye!” Glimmer ran off, leaving the two lovebirds alone. 

“What was that about?” Lexie questioned, looking at Calliope who shrugged and pulled away from her. “Callie…” 

“What? I’m tired, I’m turning in for the night,” she mumbled, skirting through the crowd to head to her room. 

Lexie said her goodbyes to the others before following her girlfriend. She entered the room and closed the door behind her as Calliope slipped out of her dress, not bothering to turn around to look at her. Lexie sighed before walking over to her and wrapping her arms around her from behind, pressing a kiss on her shoulder. 

“Please talk to me, my love…” she mumbled against her shoulder, drumming her fingers gently against Calliope’s bare stomach. 

“There’s nothing to talk about,” Calliope told her, trying to pull away again but Lexie tightened her grip on her. 

“No, there is plenty to talk about, you just don’t want to. We need to talk about what happened earlier-” Calliope cut her off by turning around in her arms, her blue eyes piercing into Lexie’s brown eyes. 

“It’s Shadow Weaver. What did you expect to happen? She got in my head, she made me feel weak and small like she’s always done. I didn’t think that would be worth discussing or wasting my breath on. She’s not worth it so please. Please drop it, Lex,” Calliope begged. 

“I wish I could but you were angry Calliope. You are the calmest person I know, even around her and she managed to tear you down in a matter of minutes. I don’t know what all she said to you before I came looking for you but she had no right to say the things she did to you. She had no right to discuss your family.”

“And that’s what the problem is. Don’t you get it? She destroyed my family. In the other reality, they were still alive. I grew up with them, I was a princess and I loved my kingdom. Night after night I dream of that reality again and then… I see it burn in front of me. Every night, I see my home burn and my mother disappear in a flash of light, and my father…” Calliope shook her head, trying to shake the images from her head. 

“She took everything from me. Which you can’t miss something you never had but I had it. In the other reality, I got a taste of what I was missing and it hurts. My heart hurts and I feel so much anger that I worry it will crush me. Lex… I’m tired,” Calliope sobbed as Lexie pulled them to the bed and cradled the smaller girl on her lap. “I’m tired! I’m physically and mentally exhausted and I can’t stop vomiting and everything hurts and my emotions are all over the place and and and-” she tried to catch her breath but the tears wouldn’t slow down and her body shook with all the pent up emotions she had withheld from her love. 

Lexie rubbed soothing circles on her back. “Let it out, love. You’ve been holding this in for a while and I wish you had talked to me about this earlier. We could have avoided this.”

“I-I k-know,” Calliope hiccuped. 

“It sucks, having everything you’ve ever known taken away from you. You know you had a family that loved you and, for a brief moment, you got to experience it. You got to know what it was like to have a loving childhood and I hate her for doing that to you. But I don’t regret any of it,” Calliope looked at her, confused. 

“You are okay with her killing my family?” she questioned.

“No! Of course not! For your sake, I wish it had never happened! But, and this is selfish of me, I never would have met you if it hadn't happened the way it did. In my reality, I was still in the Horde. But there was no you, no one to give me love and joy and I was miserable there. The perfect soldier, but miserable and lonely. Don’t you get it? We’re each other's family. You have my back and I have yours, it’s always been like that and it will be like that. First and foremost, before everything, you’re my best friend.”

“Stop!” Calliope started sobbing again, but out of happiness instead of anger and frustration. “You sap!” she sniffled. 

“It’s true! You’re my best friend, the love of my life, my past, and my future. Nothing on earth can ever change that. So be sad and angry and frustrated about everything you have lost but don’t forget about everything we have because of it.”

Calliope nodded and leaned up, capturing Lexie’s lips into a searing kiss. Lexie groaned into the kiss, tightening her grip on the smaller woman before twisting them so she could pin Calliope to the mattress. 

“Even upset, you’re insatiable,” Lexie smirked, leaving burning kisses along Calliope’s neck and shoulder. Calliope moaned, tugging Lexie back to her as they kissed again, her legs wrapping around the taller girl's hips. She pulled away after a few moments, panting. 

“You should do something about that,” she smirked, seeing the challenge gleaming in Lexie’s eyes. 

___________________________________________________________________________

The next day, Calliope excused herself from the breakfast table after having a brief discussion with Glimmer about her request and gave Lexie a reassuring smile as she left the dining hall and headed towards the palace physician. 

She hesitated at the door, unsure before straightening and heading inside. “Hello?” 

“Hello! You must be Princess Calliope,” an elderly woman approached her, wearing a white robe, and held out her hand. Calliope shook it while nodding.

“Yes ma’am, that’d be me.”

“I’m Dr. Apolla, Let’s head to a private area to talk?” Calliope nodded, following the woman through the giant room to a hallway with many doors on either side. She opened one and Calliope slipped inside, taking in the small cot and table with instruments she was barely familiar with. 

“Just sit on the cot so we can talk before I examine you,” Dr. Apolla told her, taking a seat in one of the two chairs present. Calliope sat down on the cot in front of her, clasping her hands in front of her. 

“What seems to be the problem?” Dr. Apolla asked gently, holding a clipboard to start writing. 

“Well… I’ve been vomiting almost every day for a couple of weeks. I’m tired all the time, everything hurts and I’ve been having awful nightmares,” she explained as the doctor nodded, jotting down some notes. 

“And when was your last cycle?” she questioned and Calliope blinked, scrunching her eyebrows in thought. 

“Uhhh… a month and a half ago? It’s been a while but it’s never been consistent…” the doctor nodded. 

“And are you sexually active?” Calliope blushed, nodding. “But my partner is a woman… if that makes a difference?” Calliope wasn’t sure, Horde sex education was subpar and almost non-existence. 

“Before I examine you, could you just urinate in this container for me? I just want to rule out pregnancy before we continue,” Dr. Apolla explained, handing a clear container to Calliope who took it and went into the adjoining bathroom to do her business. After she finished, she gave the container to the doctor, who thanked her and left the room. 

Calliope sat down and started biting on her nails nervously. There was no way… right? Lexie was a girl… they couldn’t have…. Her head snapped up when the doctor came back about ten minutes later. 

“Congratulations are in order, your highness. You’re expecting. I would like to examine you now, if that’s okay, and see if we could get a look at your little bundle of joy?”

Calliope nodded numbly, laying down and staring up at the ceiling in shock as the doctor rolled up her shirt and probed her belly softly. She then felt the doctor trace a pattern on her stomach and she looked up in time to see the rune glow before an image floated above her belly. 

Dr. Apolla examined it, jotting down a few notes before explaining it to Calliope. “See this?” she pointed to a tiny blob on the screen and Calliope nodded. “That’s your baby. Still developing nicely, I would say about two months along, give or take. Just let me see if I can get a heartbeat…” 

Calliope stared at the little blob in front of her, reaching a hand out, hesitant to touch the image when a new noise filled the room. A fast, loud thumping noise that outpaced her own heart's rhythm. The sound instantly sent her into tears. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise! Long chapter, I know! There was too much to cover!


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They travel to the ruins of Musicia and make an unexpected discovery

Chapter 13

The last couple of days were spent packing and preparing for their trip into the Whispering Woods. Calliope was still processing the news about her pregnancy, what an inconvenient time for this to happen, and had not talked to Lexie about it yet. The logistics weren’t there for Calliope, she was with a woman and yet… she placed a gentle hand on her belly as she stared out the window of their bedroom in Brightmoon, pondering. 

She was nervous and scared, she did not know what she was doing and didn’t think she was ready to become a mother. But every time she remembered the little heartbeat she heard while with the doctor, her own heart seemed to flutter with excitement and happiness. Their little blob was still so small, so vulnerable and all of Calliope’s maternal instincts screamed at her to protect it at all costs. Which had led to her becoming more reserved from Lexie, much to the other girl's disdain and disappointment. 

Lexie had thought they had made some headway the other night after the coronation but it felt like they were back at square one again, only this time there was no anger rolling off Calliope, just… nervousness? Curiosity? Lexie couldn’t put her finger on the mood her girlfriend was suffering from, unfortunately, and Calliope was not talking and was even avoiding being in the same room as her. 

Lexie came up behind her small partner and placed her hands on her shoulders, causing Calliope to jump out of her reverie. 

“Ready to go? Adora is waiting to lead us to the Crystal Castle,” Lexie informed her, trying not to feel hurt at Calliope’s reaction to her touch. 

The younger girl nodded, turning away to grab her backpack. The plan was to have Adora lead them to the Crystal Castle since that’s where Calliope had originally gone when she first defected from the Horde and to follow the stone pathway to the ruins of her kingdom. They weren’t sure what they were looking for yet, but Calliope would know it when she found it. 

“We can wait a couple more days if you’re still feeling unwell, Callie. We can even go back to the library and do more research there instead of hiking through the woods. We don’t have to rush this,” Lexie sighed, throwing her own pack over her shoulders, knowing what Calliope would decide. 

“We need to check out the ruins. Something was left behind there that could be valuable to us, I’m sure of it. Besides… the woods are calling me,” she added, rubbing the back of her neck. It did not help that the chilling melody had come back to haunt her dreams along with her usual nightmares and now the stress of carrying their child. 

“I trust you, Callie. With my life. And if you think this is a good idea, then I’m all in, okay?” Lexie told her, taking the other girl's hand into her own. She thanked the non-existent stars that her girlfriend didn’t pull away. 

Calliope chewed on her lip, wanting to tell Lexie about the baby, feeling the words rise up in her throat the same way her morning sickness did. She turned to Lexie, keeping a firm grip on her hand. 

“Lexie, I-” she was interrupted by Adora barging into the room, all smiles. 

“You guys ready to go? It’s a little bit of a journey to the Crystal Castle, we don’t want to get caught in the dark out there,” she told them, oblivious to the moment they were having. 

“Yea, we’re coming. Callie, what were you saying?” Lexie asked, looking at her girlfriend expectantly. But Calliope had lost her nerve. 

“I just… love you is all,” she told her, putting on a smile before following Adora out of the room, Lexie trailing behind, confused but happy. 

______________________________________________________________________________

They had been hiking for hours, taking the occasional break to drink and eat. In the Horde, a hike like this would have been no problem but, in Calliope’s condition, it was absolutely exhausting. It did not help that she had slacked off on all training lately, becoming softer, much to Lexie’s delight. 

They finally made it to the clearing with the Crystal Castle in it and Calliope all but collapsed on the ground, her feet aching. Lexie rubbed her shoulder soothingly, feeling bad for her girlfriend. 

“I told you we could have stayed behind a few more days,” she told her, which made Calliope snort in her direction.

“Are you guys gonna be okay from here? I can walk with you to the ruins,” Adora offered, taking in Calliope’s state with concern. Calliope waved a dismissive hand at her. 

“Don’t trouble yourself, you’re needed back at Brightmoon. We’ll be fine out here, promise. I just need to catch my breath, is all,” she told her, sucking in a deep breath. 

“Are you sure? It won’t be a problem,” Adora tried to reason. 

“We’re sure. I need to do this on my own,” Calliope looked up at her and smiled. “I hope we see each other again before the end of the war, Adora. If not, we’ll see you on the other side when we start rebuilding my kingdom and Etheria.”

Adora nodded, smiling before pulling Calliope up into a hug. “Take care of yourselves. Don’t hesitate to call on us for help.” Calliope nodded, hugging her back before being let go, and watched as Adora hiked back the way they came. Lexie walked over to Calliope, smiling sadly. 

“I’m gonna miss her. Where to now, my love?”

Calliope looked around, trying to find the stone pathway again. She walked closer towards the Crystal Castle, examining the ground before finding the stone again. 

“Over here!” she called out to Lexie, who quickly joined her. “Last time, I sang out a little melody and the stones lit up. We should be able to follow it to the ruins and the light will help when it gets darker,” she noted, looking up to see the sky turning a light shade of pink, indicating the late evening. 

“Let’s hope we make it before it becomes completely dark so we don’t have to set up a camp among the trees,” Lexie agreed, taking Calliope’s hand as she let out the four-note tune. The stones lit up a multitude of colors underneath their feet and led into the trees, away from the Crystal Castle. They looked at each other before following the light, Calliope occasionally letting out the tune again when the light stopped glowing. 

The haunting melody caused Calliope to freeze in her tracks, Lexie running into her from behind. 

“Did you hear that?” Calliope asked her, turning around to face the direction they had just come from. 

“I didn’t hear anything. Is there danger?” Lexie pulled out a knife that she carried around with her, ready to fight whatever Calliope had heard. 

“No… the song is coming from the Crystal Castle…” Lexie frowned at her. 

“But the ruins are this way. We can’t backtrack now, Callie. Besides, it's not like we can do anything at the Crystal Castle without Light Hope killing us.”

Calliope knew they couldn’t, Adora had explained that only She-Ra was allowed to access the Crystal Castle and anyone else would be seen as an intruder. Light Hope had tried to kill Catra once when she entered the Castle to spy on Adora. 

“But…” Calliope bit her lip, the melody filling her ears. 

“You must be mistaken, Callie. I’m sure you’re hearing the noise from the ruins. Let’s go check it out, okay?” Lexie rested her hand on Calliope’s shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze. Calliope sighed and nodded, turning back around and trying to ignore the noise as they continued down the path. 

They stumbled through the last bit of trees after about twenty minutes of hiking and stopped at the edge of what used to be a city. The charred remains of buildings and homes littered the area as far as the eye could see, the stone path is overgrown with moss and the forest attempting to reclaim the buildings as part of the forest. 

Calliope took a few steps forward, her hand coming up to cover her mouth in shock. This was her home. Lexie came up and stood beside her, reaching over and squeezing her hand. 

“Come on, let’s find the palace and try to set up camp there and start searching in the morning,” she told her, Calliope nodding numbly as they made their way down what used to be cobbled streets. The way was uneven with roots growing underneath the stone and breaking it apart, making it hard to navigate with the setting sun. Calliope tried the four-note tune, sighing in relief when the stone lit up to light their way. 

Calliope tried her best to examine her surroundings in the dim light, picking up faint impressions of a tailor, market stands, and florists. They made it to the center of the city where a long-forgotten fountain sat, crumbling to the ground. Calliope stepped forward, running a hand over the broken marble sadly, and looked around, taking note that they were in a courtyard. 

She doesn’t know what came over her, maybe the sadness and loneliness of a place that was once vibrant with music and life, but Calliope started singing a sad melody, closing her eyes to relish in the heartache she felt within her. 

Lexie watched her girlfriend curiously, unsure of what she was doing. Suddenly, lights came on in the courtyard from the long-dead twinkle lights overhead and Lexie blinked, momentarily blinded. When her eyes readjusted, she gasped. The courtyard was repairing itself as Calliope sang, the cobbled street mending to its former glory, the plants blooming in long-forgotten pots of soil and the fountain reforming to its original height, water starting to spout out the top. 

Calliope stopped after a few minutes, feeling drained as she stumbled away from the thriving fountain and collapsing to her knees. Lexie was at her side instantly. 

“Hey! You’re okay. You used too much magic, love,” she told her. Calliope nodded in agreement and lifted her head, freezing as her eyes met another pair across the courtyard, standing at the edge of the shadows the light cast. Lexie followed her gaze and growled, pulling out her knife. 

“Who are you?! Show yourself!” she demanded, taking a protective stance in front of Calliope. Calliope peeked out from around her legs, watching as the figure hesitated but then stepped into the light, shielding their eyes from the light. 

It was a man, tall with salt and pepper hair and deep-set, grey eyes. He looked older than her and Lexie, at least by ten years and he wore old traveling clothes. He stared at Calliope, who squirmed under his gaze. 

“Who are you?!” Lexie demanded again. “What are you doing here?!”

“I could ask you the same thing!” he growled back, his voice gruff. 

“Hey!” Calliope said, shakily standing and putting a hand on Lexie to steady herself. “I’m Princess Calliope of Musicia. This is my home and I have come to reclaim it. Who are you and why are you here?”

The man blinked and then gasped before falling to one knee, bowing his head.

“Forgive me, Princess. I was not aware… we all thought you had been lost with the Horde attack… My name is Brio.” 

“We?” Calliope said hopefully. “There’s more of you? People survived…” 

Brio nodded, looking up at the two girls. “There’s a small settlement here that took up refuge a few years after the Horde attacked, hoping they would not come snooping around again and try to wipe out what was left of us, which isn’t much. I just… I can’t believe it. Are you really the princess?” he asked, hoping he wasn’t dreaming or hallucinating. 

Calliope nodded. “I’m the lost princess. I’m so glad I’m not the last musician! Can you take us to the settlement?”

Lexie grabbed her shoulder, glaring at the man. “How can we know we can trust him? We can’t just follow a mysterious man through a destroyed city. It seems too suspicious.” 

“Our settlement is outside the palace. It felt like a dishonor on the royal family to take up residence there. And I can prove you can trust me and that I am like you, princess,” he addressed Calliope and then cleared his throat, letting out a melody that Calliope quickly harmonized. Every note he sang, Calliope matched until the image of a vibrant city blazed between them. 

“This is the city in its heyday. Before the Horde attacked. I remember visiting the city when I was a boy, and I remember the day you were presented to the people, princess. I was ten years old when our kingdom was destroyed and only survived because my family had left the city the day before the attack and stayed in hiding. You can trust me.” 

Calliope looked at Lexie, squeezing her shoulder gently. “He can help us. Who better to teach us about the people than the people?”

Lexie clenched her jaw, not wanting to blindly follow a stranger but trusting Calliope’s judgment in people. She nodded briskly and Brio smiled before motioning for them to follow him as he disappeared back into the shadows. Calliope eagerly followed after with a reluctant Lexie on her heels. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dun. Dun. DUN!


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meeting the people and learning about babies

Chapter 14

Brio led Calliope and Lexie through the broken city, humming softly to create a ball of light in his hands to lead the way. Lexie kept a tight grip on her girlfriend's hand, one: to keep them together, and two: because she didn’t trust Brio as far as she could throw him. She didn’t want it to be a trick and for Calliope to get hurt. 

They made it to the marble steps Calliope remembered from her visions and took a turn, heading toward a cluster of buildings just off the main path. Brio went up to a door and knocked out a tune on the wood. They waited a moment before the door opened and they were ushered inside, Brio extinguishing his light in favor of the already lit room. 

About thirty to fifty pairs of eyes landed on the trio, everything going silent as they took in the newcomers. Brio stepped forward in front of the girls and cleared his throat. 

“Everyone! I have come back with good news! The princess has returned to us!” he announced and everyone jumped up, cheering, as he took Calliope’s arm and led her forward into the crowd of their people. Lexie stuck to her side, keeping a wary eye on the people as they came up to Calliope to greet her, some embracing her while others merely took her hand affectionately. 

They made their way across the room as Brio led them and stopped in front of a tall woman with long blonde hair and emerald eyes who was waiting patiently for them. Brio went over and affectionately kissed the woman on the cheek. 

“Princess, this is my wife, Callista,” he introduced as his wife stepped forward, bowing respectfully before embracing the young woman. 

“We always prayed for the day where you would return to us, princess. Our prayers have been answered,” Callista told her, pulling away gently. 

Calliope blushed, feeling overwhelmed from all the attention she was receiving from everyone. 

“This is… unexpected. We thought everyone had been wiped out,” she told Callista and Brio. Callista shook her head, smiling. 

“While it’s true that we’re nomadic, most everyone was gathered in the city around the time the attack happened. Luckily, some families were not in attendance or had to leave the city early for other reasons. A small fraction of us survived and found our way back here after a few years.”

“What about the colonies in the other kingdoms?” Calliope asked. Brio and Callista gave each other a look.

“After the attack,” Brio started, “most kingdoms didn’t want our people within their borders, worried that the Horde would attack them for harboring survivors. The Princess Alliance had the colonies removed. It was almost as if…”

“As if Etheria had forgotten about us. As if Musicia never existed,” Callista finished. 

“But… that doesn’t make any sense. They couldn’t have forgotten about us so quickly!” Calliope exclaimed. 

“But they did, somehow. We don’t know how to explain it. We’re just lucky that we were able to gather who we could and find a home,” Brio explained. 

“Princess, what’s gonna happen now?” Calliope heard a voice say and turned to face the crowd, taking in the tired yet hopeful faces of her people. She cleared her throat and stepped forward to address everybody. 

“Until a few months ago, I had never heard of our Kingdom. Etheria has, mostly, forgotten about Musicia. The war still rages out there. When the war is over and Etheria has won against the Horde, Brightmoon and the other kingdoms in the Princess Alliance have promised to help us rebuild. We will be a mighty kingdom again,” she told them, causing another cheer to ripple through her subjects. 

“Where have you been all this time? What took you so long to return to us?” another voice questioned amongst them. Calliope bit her lip and Lexie took hold of her hand again, squeezing it. 

“We were raised by the Horde,” Calliope started, sending a gasp of outrage and fear through the crowd. “I… I only defected because I heard a voice calling me from the Whispering Woods. A melody, leading me to my rightful place. My partner, Lexie,” she looked at her girlfriend, smiling, “joined me shortly after and we have been learning about my kingdom for months. We didn’t think anyone survived but I am so happy to see each and every one of you. Please, I don’t know much about being a princess but I promise you that I will do everything in my power to learn, to grow, and to fight for us. We will win this war, we will rebuild our kingdom, and Etheria will remember us again.”

Everyone cheered and clapped excitedly as Brio stepped forward, smiling. 

“Let’s allow our guests to eat and rest now, we have plenty of time to talk with Her Highness in the coming days. Please, go back to your night routine,” he told them as he led Calliope and Lexie away into a room, Callista following behind. 

They stepped forward into the room and Callista closed the door behind them as they took in the large space, a bed set up in the corner, a table settled in the middle, and a guitar leaning up against the far wall along with a small loveseat. There was a small fire pit with a few boxes and bags placed nearby. 

“It’s not much, but it’s home,” Callista said, motioning to the table for them to sit. Brio, Calliope, and Lexie all took a seat while Callista set about gathering a few things from the boxes to put together a small meal. Brio leaned forward in his chair, which was situated across the table for Calliope and Lexie, and smiled. 

“Lexie, right?” He asked, to which Lexie nodded, jaw clenched. “You can relax. We’re safe here. As safe as you can get in a crumbling city in the middle of the woods, at least.” 

“We don’t know you and this is an unexpected situation. I don’t trust easily, unlike my girl. She’s the people person, I’m the muscle,” Lexie told him, crossing her arms over her chest. Calliope rolled her eyes, patting Lexie’s shoulder. 

“Are you two engaged?” Brio asked, cocking his head to the side as he eyed the treble clef necklace that rested on the hollow of Lexie’s throat. Both girls shook their heads quickly. 

“No! We aren’t! We haven’t even talked about that! It’s too soon, right? Callie?” Lexie asked nervously. Brio laughed at her reaction. 

“I was just wondering because you’re wearing a token from your partner. That usually indicates an engagement,” he explained as realization dawned on both girls. 

“No… it was just a gift. It was mine as a baby and I accidentally left it behind when I defected from the Horde. It actually helped me find my way back to her, she had been seriously injured and I was able to hear a tinkling noise from it,” Calliope told him. 

“Most necklaces like that are embedded with magic that gives off small signals. Our ears are finely tuned to pick up the lowest of noises.” 

“That is so cool! I have so much to learn. It’s just hard to believe that so many of our people survived the attack. We came here to go through ruins, not meet people. But it’s great. What better resource than the actual culture? You mentioned your family left the city before the invasion? Were you part of the colonies?” Calliope asked Brio, leaning forward in her chair as well. 

“Yes, my family was the ambassadors for the Snows Musicians. When we got back to the kingdom, they barred us from entering, not recognizing us. The same happened to the other colonies. I met Callista when the survivors moved back to the capital, she hails from the Plumerian Musicians.” 

“Guilty as charged,” she said, sitting plates of food in front of everyone before taking her seat. Calliope’s mouth watered at the smell of bread and cheese but frowned slightly at her bigger serving than the others. 

“I can’t possibly have this much. I’m sure rations are not great. Please, take part of my share,” she offered their hosts. Callista just shook her head, smiling. 

“No, our rations are fine. We are able to produce our own food and everything. You need to eat, you’re feeding two after all.”

Lexie choked on her bread, coughing as Calliope froze, staring at Callista in horror. Callista blinked before realization dawned on her. 

“Oooh… oh no, I wasn’t supposed to say anything. I am so sorry, Your Highness,” she apologized. 

“Callie…” Lexie said slowly, looking up at her girlfriend after she was able to choke down the bread. Calliope’s lower lip trembled and she clasped her hands together on top of her lap to keep them from shaking. 

“I was going to tell you… I just found out a few days ago…” 

“A few days?!” Lexie stood up abruptly, the chair tipping back and crashing onto the ground, causing Calliope to flinch. Lexie took a deep breath through her nose, seeing red as she turned and walked out of the room, slamming the door behind her. Calliope’s hand shot up to her mouth as she nervously bit on her nails, hot tears trailing down her cheeks. 

“H-how did you know?” She sniffled. Callista looked at her sadly. 

“I’m a healer… I know a pregnant woman when I see one. I just don’t understand why she would react so harshly towards such joyous news?”

“Cause it doesn’t make sense! We’re both women, it’s impossible… she probably thinks I cheated on her, which I didn’t! She’s the love of my life…” Calliope shuddered, wrapping her free arm around her stomach protectively. Brio cleared his throat awkwardly, picking up his plate as he stood.

“This seems like a conversation I don’t need to be present for… I’ll go see if I can find your partner and calm her down?” He told her, to which Calliope nodded as he left the room as well. Callista sighed, folding her hands together on top of the table. 

“Your Highness… you know how sex works, right? I assume so since you’re in this position…” Calliope nodded again, cheeks flaming with embarrassment. 

“Well… when you are… getting intimate… Do you ever feel the need to hum?” Callista asked. Calliope’s eyebrows furrowed. 

“Yea… I thought it was weird but I couldn’t help it… Lexie thinks it's sexy…” 

Callista cleared her throat awkwardly. “Well… that is perfectly natural. With Musicians… our magic is a little different from the other Etherians. That hum is natural, it’s an indication of fertility and it’s sort of like… a spell almost. A fertility spell. You’re basically singing your baby into existence, happens when a person is truly in love. It doesn’t matter gender or partner, when you feel the hum, you can conceive if you want.” 

Calliope blinked. “I sang our baby into existence…” she slowly smiled, caressing her belly gently. “My little song…” Callista smiled, pushing the plate closer to Calliope.

“Which is why you need to eat. You need to be strong and healthy to protect and provide for your little one. It is a product of true love.” 

Calliope nodded, happily taking a bite out of her cheese. 

_

Lexie felt like she was burning. She wasn’t sure if she should feel excited, enraged, or betrayed by this discovery but she knew she could kill a boulder to make her feel better. She was currently outside the large building, making a boulder suffer as her thoughts plagued her mind. 

_ How is this possible? Did Calliope cheat?  _ She quickly shook her head free of that thought, knowing well enough that Calliope would never cheat on her.  _ Then how? They are both girls, it was physically impossible.  _

A branch snapped behind her and she turned quickly, getting into a fighting position as Brio lifted a hand up in surrender, holding a plate in the other hand. 

“I’m peaceful, I promise. I bring a peace offering of food,” he joked slightly as she lowered her stance, glaring down at the ground. He sighed and walked over, sitting the plate on top of the defeated boulder. 

“You’re in a tough position. This is sudden, new, and seemingly impossible. But your reaction was hostile and harmful to the mother of your child. You should apologize when you calm down,” he told her, making her snort at him. 

“You are not my father, old man. I have every right to be upset that my girlfriend is pregnant, she hid it from me, and that it should be impossible that she is. Also that it’s the most inconvenient timing possible.”

“Babies are inconvenient. They don’t care about your time or your plans. And I’m not much older than you, hotshot.” Lexie rolled her eyes at him, giving him the first small smile before going over and picking up the bread off the plate, turning it over thoughtfully in her hands. 

“How is it possible?” she asked him after a few moments of silence between them. 

“Does she hum when you two are intimate?” he asked and Lexie blushed, nodding slightly. 

“The hum is a powerful thing. Very unique to the Musicians, due to the magic we are able to produce with our music. The hum is a fertility spell that spawns from true love and happiness in a relationship. It helps produce babies and bond a couple. It happens to all genders and partners, it’s not unique to just a handful of people.”

“So… what you’re saying is that… Calliope was happy and in love and sang a baby into existence?” Lexie summarized. 

“She didn’t just sing a baby into existence, you helped. You both brought it into existence. You were both happy and in love.” 

Lexie sighed, rubbing her forehead. “I’m such an ass… I really hurt her, didn’t I?”

Brio laughed. “You kinda did, hotshot. I’m sure she’ll forgive you, seems like the tender-hearted type.” 

Lexie laughed as well, shaking her head. “You have no idea. She wears her heart on her sleeve. She cares about everyone, even those who are awful to her… I used to have to protect her from those people and I just became one…” 

“You’re not a bad person. You were caught in a bad situation and you reacted to protect yourself. It’s something to work on. Callista is good at doing guided meditations to work through childhood trauma.” 

“One step at a time pops. Let me grovel for my girlfriend's forgiveness and officially accept my child first before I unbag deep-seated childhood mishaps to your wife,” she chuckled before going quiet again. “I’m going to be a mom…” 

“To a future prince or princess, yes. You both have a kingdom behind you to help as well. The future is starting to look brighter,” he said before sitting up. “Ready to head in and grovel, hotshot?”

“I am. I just hope she’s in a forgiving mood when we go back.”

-

Calliope was asleep on the loveseat when they got back to the room, curled up protectively around her stomach. Callista stood to go to her husband, giving him a chaste kiss. 

“Feel better, Lexie?” she asked as Lexie made her way to her sleeping girlfriend, noting how small she looked at this moment. 

“Yes… is there somewhere for us to sleep? We had a long day and she needs all the rest she can get.”

Callista nodded and motioned for her to follow. Gently, Lexie lifted Calliope off the loveseat, cradling her bridal style in her arms as the heterochromatic princess adjusted in her arms, nuzzling into her shoulder. Lexie followed Callista out of the room and down the hallway, taking a few turns before stopping in front of another door. Callista opened it and went inside, lighting a few lanterns to reveal a room similar to their own, minus the guitar and boxes. 

“Sorry, it’s not more lavish. We can work on getting you better accommodations tomorrow.” 

“It’s perfect. Bigger than our bunk in the Horde,” Lexie told her, turning towards her. “Thank you… for everything…”

“It’s a pleasure, truly. We have waited years for her return, hoping beyond all hope she was alive. Our people have something they haven’t had in years. Hope. You both give us hope and your child gives us a new beginning. Anything you need, we will take care of it. You are as much a part of our people as she is, Lexie. Don’t forget that. Have a great night.” Callista left the room, closing the door behind her. 

Lexie sighed, feeling a weight lift from her shoulders as she went over to the bed and gently laid Calliope down, starting to pull away until those small hands clutched tightly onto her shirt. 

“Don’t leave again…” Calliope mumbled sleepily. Lexie sighed again, smiling softly before sliding in beside her, curling around her gently. 

“I’m not going anywhere,” she said, kissing her head gently. “And I’m sorry I left earlier. I was angry and confused. I hope you can forgive me.”

“Of course, silly. It’s a confusing situation, I would have reacted the same way,” Calliope smiled gently, not opening her eyes as they talked. Lexie placed a hesitant hand on top of Calliope’s stomach. 

“That’s our baby… you sang our baby into existence, my love,” she smiled, kissing her closed eyelids. 

“Our little song. I was so happy, I couldn’t help but create a song out of it,” she giggled softly, causing an affectionate snort to leave Lexie. 

“How far along are you?”

“A couple of months. It’s just a little blob right now. But I heard its heartbeat… that was the most beautiful music I ever heard,” Calliope said softly, cracking her eyes open slightly to gaze up at her girlfriend. Lexie smiled happily, nuzzling into the small girl's hair. 

“I’m sure it is a beautiful song to hear. I hope I can hear it soon.”

“We’re going to be moms,” Calliope said excitedly, nuzzling into Lexie’s chest. 

“And you’re trying to fix a broken kingdom. We have our hands full.”

“As long as we have each other, we can do anything,” Calliope told her, yawning. Lexie chuckled softly. 

“Sleep, my love,” she mumbled, starting to drift off. They fell asleep buried deep against each other, their child resting between them. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tooth rotting, eh? Drama to ensue soon!


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rebuilding, discoveries, and a proposal

Chapter 15

They immediately went to work, assessing the ration and housing situation first. Callista and Brio were a tremendous help, able to provide the necessary information to help the couple to plan out a new strategy. It took some convincing of the people present but they soon realized that the Horde was unlikely to attack the place again and that it was safe to venture further into the city to rebuild. 

They started by rebuilding some of the buildings and making them livable for the people, allowing everyone to have more space to spread out and have more semblance of normalcy. Lexie took charge in overseeing the renovations of the buildings while Calliope focused on their food stores and how to better provide for her people. She noted they had a few small plots of vegetables and used the farm animals for additional resources, allowing them to roam freely among the ruins. 

Calliope had Callista and a few of the other surviving Plumerian Musicians create bigger plots of farmland to grow a wider variety of vegetables and grains as well start a small orchard of different fruit trees, seeds provided by Perfuma after a quick visit to Brightmoon to attend an Alliance meeting and get her advice. 

Next, she had some people create fenced-in pens for the farm animals, to keep them safe in one place. The cows and goats proved helpful for milk and cheese as well as learning how to make soap from the goat milk. After some exploring the area, they were able to locate a river close by that she had the Salinean Musicians use to capture fish to give more variety to their diets. 

The work was exhausting. Calliope insisted on helping with everything, much to Lexie’s distaste, who would have preferred that her pregnant girlfriend didn’t overexert herself. But the people surrounding them assured Lexie, privately, that they would not allow the princess to over-do herself and expressed their gratitude for her help. Every night, one of the Musicians would bring dinner over to the couple so they would not have to cook themselves. 

Calliope mentioned this to one of the citizens one night a few weeks after arriving and they replied “You work hard for us every day, never afraid to get your hands dirty or doing a difficult task. While we wish you would take it easy, due to your condition, we are still very grateful for your dedication to our people. It’s the least we can do for you.” The response had made Calliope’s cheeks flush with happiness and her girlfriend beam with pride. 

“Why do you work so hard, Callie?” Lexie had asked her afterward as they enjoyed the homemade bread and fresh vegetable soup. Calliope twirled her spoon into her stew, contemplating her answer.

“I want to be able to say that I rebuilt this kingdom with my own two hands. I want to be proud of the kingdom we create and I can’t be proud of something I didn’t put any effort into. I want our child to inherit a kingdom that respects it’s royal family not because of our lineage but because they know that we are willing to help in any capacity we can. I will slow down when I am farther along but until then, I will put my all into the people.” 

The response had spurred Lexie to work even harder for them and to start planning on asking her girlfriend to marry her. If they were to be a proper royal family, they needed to stand united. These people were just as much hers as they were Calliope’s and they had accepted Lexie with open arms as their princess's partner. 

It was probably a month or so after they arrived that Calliope finally steeled her nerves and entered into the ruined palace. Brio and Callista had told her they would join her but she felt it was something she needed to do on her own. Lexie insisted on coming on for emotional and physical support. She did not want Calliope to overdo herself in any way while they explored her ruined home. 

Calliope took a deep breath as she stepped up the marble staircase she remembered from her visions, stopping at the top where it spread out into a large circular courtyard. Her eyes immediately looked up towards the bright sun, remembering the bright light that her mother had disappeared into from her vision. Lexie stepped up behind her, putting her hands on her shoulders. 

“We don’t have to do this today, my love,” she gently reminded her and Calliope closed her eyes, taking a moment to ground herself but turning slightly, opening her eyes, and smiling softly at her worried girlfriend. 

“If we don’t, I won’t ever want to. This will be our home one day, I need to face my past before it can be,” she said before stepping forward and walking across the courtyard towards another setup steps on the opposite side that led to the broken off doors of the palace. 

They walked in, the long empty hallways echoing their footsteps from the hard, stone floor. Nature had overtaken the palace over the years, vines and roots intertwining over the walls and on the floors. It was like a whole other forest within the palace. They continued down the hallway, Lexie following Calliope, who seemed to have a destination in mind as she brisked past charred and shredded photos, broken vases, and splintered furniture. 

They stopped in front of a large door that was still intact and Calliope collapsed the silver doorknob in her hand, hesitating before twisting it and letting the door fall open. Lexie stepped forward first after Calliope just stood there, staring inside. She did a 360 of the room. 

“A nursery?” she questioned, looking at Calliope.

“My nursery…” Calliope explained, finally stepping in and heading towards the crib, which was, miraculously, still standing in the middle of the room. The room seemed to be untouched by the war, a thick layer of dust has gathered over everything instead. Calliope stopped at the side of the crib and reached in, pulling out an old, stuffed unicorn that she examined carefully before hugging it to her chest. 

“Would you want to move in here until we rebuild the rest of it?” Lexie asked, coming over and gently touching the mobile hanging over the crib. It let out a soft tinkling lullaby as the long-forgotten stars and moons hanging from it twirled around. 

“I would actually love that. Already has a few items we can use for our own child,” Calliope said, freeing an arm from the stuffed unicorn to caress the small baby bump that had started to form. 

“Come on, we have a lot more to explore,” Lexie prompted, and the two left the old nursery to continue down the corridors. They took a few turns, journeying deeper into the palace until they opened a door and came out on top of a grand staircase that led down into a ballroom. Opposite of where they came in was another staircase that led down to a small dias that held a couple of thrones and then more stairs down onto the dance floor. 

Calliope walked down the stairs and stepped around to stand in front of the thrones, broken and charred. She looked up to the large portrait that hung above them. Lexie came around to look at the portrait as well. It showed King Ronen standing above a seated Queen Musa, both dressed elegantly in matching black and white outfits. Silver crowns sat upon their heads and Calliope noted that her mother’s crown had about five different colored gemstones set into the metal with a single, purple and blue gem, bigger than the rest, adorning the front of it. They were both smiling and, resting in the Queen's arms was an infant Calliope, decked out in a matching outfit to her parents and smiling. 

“You were an adorable baby,” Lexie smirked, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. 

“Do you think I look like them?” she questioned, pulling her gaze away from the portrait to look at her girlfriend. 

“The perfect blend, just as Queen Angella said. Your hair couldn’t decide who to favor so it did both,” she joked, indicating to the king's shiny black locks and the queen's white curls. Calliope chuckled at the observation and they made their way to the other door up the staircase and continued their journey. 

They stopped in front of a set of double doors that looked to have been ripped from its hinges and gave each other wary looks before heading into the room. From what they could tell, it used to be an elegant bedroom before it had been completely ransacked. Items were strewn everywhere, furniture was upturned and broken, and the bed was completely destroyed with feathers settled everywhere. 

Lexie went to one side of the room to look around while Calliope went to another, seeing another open doorway to go through. She stepped into what was a large, walk-in closet and walked to the very back, noticing a large trunk in the corner. It seemed to be untouched, unlike the rest of the items in the room and she knelt in front of it, using her free arm to gently open it. 

Inside were stacks of leather-bound journals, at least twenty or so, along with an old blanket, a pair of crystal high-heels and another, smaller box. Calliope picked up the first journal and opened it up, eyes widening when she read her mother’s name scribbled onto the front page of it.

“Lex! I found something!” she yelled out to her partner, who quickly entered the closet to join her. Calliope held up the journal. “My mother kept a diary. Multiple diaries, in fact. We can learn so much from these!” she told her excitedly. 

Lexie smiled and peeked into the trunk, picking up the smaller box and opening it to reveal a necklace with a purple and blue gemstone, five different colored gems surrounding it. 

“That looks like the stones from my mother’s crown in the portrait… What does it mean? Is it our runestone?” Calliope asked, touching the large gemstone gently. 

“I don’t know. We can ask Brio and Callista. Let’s start back, I’ll carry the trunk for you.” Calliope nodded and they put the items back inside, closing the trunk as Lexie picked it up and they headed out. 

-

Brio examined the necklace carefully, fingering the gemstones lightly. “It’s certainly interesting. I know this one,” he said, pointing to the small, light blue gemstone, “Is similar to the Fractal Flake, which is the Kingdom of Snows runestone.”

“And this one looks like the Heart Blossom in Plumeria,” Callista added, pointing to the pink stone. 

“But what about the big stone? Is that our runestone?” Calliope questioned. 

“We… don’t really remember our runestone…” Brio admitted, looking sheepish. 

“It’s like we’re missing memories, the same way that Etheria seemed to have forgotten about us. The night of the attack, something major happened to cause this event and I don’t think it was the Horde’s doing,” Calliste admitted. 

“Do you think there was magic involved? Could someone have put a spell on Etheria to forget the Musicians and hide the runestone?” Lexie asked, intrigued. 

“I don’t know of anyone powerful enough to cast such a spell. But it’s an interesting theory. We can deduct that if two of these gemstones are replicas of the other elemental kingdoms' runestones then the biggest stone has to represent our own runestone,” Brio said. 

“But Musicia wasn’t the dominant kingdom. It’s Brightmoon. Why would it be the dominant centerpiece?” Lexie questioned. Brio just shrugged his shoulders. 

“Your guess is as good as mine, hotshot. Maybe the journals will help,” he suggested. 

Calliope nodded in agreement. “I’m gonna start on them tonight. We need as much information as we can gather in order to properly rebuild.” 

-

Calliope sat up in her and Lexie’s bed, reading through one of her mother’s journals as she chewed on a piece of dried meat. Her cravings had started to develop and the meat was at the very top of that list as well as stewed goat's milk. She had made herself comfy in one of Lexie’s shirts, the scent relaxing her, and had pinned her hair up on top of her head, knowing full well that Lexie would pull it out as soon as she saw it. 

Lexie watched her girlfriend as she tidied up their living quarters, smiling at the look of deep concentration that had settled over the smaller girl's face. She put her hand in her pocket, fiddling with the trinket she was gonna use to propose as she tried to build up her courage to talk to her. 

Calliope could feel eyes on her and she looked up to see Lexie staring at her intensely, causing a shiver to shoot up her spine. 

“Why such a serious look?” she asked, which seemed to break Lexie out of whatever reverie she had entered. The taller girl walked over and sat at the edge of the bed, her hand automatically reaching over to caress the small baby bump. 

“No reason… I was just thinking.”

“Oooh! You know that’s dangerous,” Calliope teased, causing Lexie to snort. She noticed her hair and frowned. 

“Who said you could pin your hair up?” she questioned as she reached over to pull it down. Calliope ducked her head out of the way, laughing.

“I did! Leave it alone!” she chuckled, pushing Lexie’s hands away as the taller girl gently moved to pin the smaller girl down. Calliope struggled, laughing as Lexie pinned her arms above her head and pulled the hair tie out of her hair, holding it up triumphantly. Calliope pouted. 

“You’re obsessed with my hair, weirdo!” Calliope told her as Lexie released her, helping her sit back up and admiring the way the heterochromatic curls fell down her shoulders. 

“It’s beautiful, just like you,” she told her, making Calliope blush and brush the loose strands away from her face. 

“Callie…” Lexie started, taking a deep breath. “I love you. For as long as I can remember, it has always been you. Not only are you my girlfriend but you are my best friend in the whole world. In the whole universe.”

“Where is this coming from, Lex? This is sappy, even for you,” Calliope teased, taking the girl's hands gently into her own. 

“I’m… I’m not good at this…” Lexie mumbled, pulling a hand away to reach into her pocket. She enclosed her fist around the trinket and held it out to Calliope, opening her hand to reveal her old Horde badge. Calliope took it, frowning.

“Why are you giving this to me?” She asked. 

“Just… look at it, turn it a little.”

Calliope did, turning it ever so slightly in the light where the Horde symbol disappeared and a musical note appeared in its place. She gasped, turning it back to see the Horde symbol reappear. She looked up at Lexie, who was blushing and rubbing the back of her neck.

“I don’t have anything personal. I asked one of our people to help me modify my old badge to give to you as my token… I wanted it to reflect not only our past but the future we were building. Calliope, you are the kindest, strongest, bravest woman I know. You are going to be an awesome ruler and a wonderful mom. And I can’t wait to be by your side when that happens. So, I’m asking you to always let me be by your side, forever. Will you marry me?” 

“Yes! Yes! Thousand times yes!” she screamed, jumping Lexie and kissing her. Lexie held onto her as she returned the passionate kiss and both girls felt on top of the world. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You're welcoming for the tooth-rotting fluff. I'm about to ruin your lives MUAHAHAH!


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lexie goes to Brightmoon on a lead about the Runestone and Calliope leads a defense team to take out some bots.   
> The portal opens to pull them out of Despondas

Chapter 16

“Hey, did you read this?” Lexie asked, holding one of the journals up to Calliope as they rested in bed one night. Lexie was laying lower so she could be closer to Calliope’s ever-growing belly, wanting to always be in some sort of physical contact with her to make sure they were okay. Calliope had just hit her five-month mark and they were excited to learn their babies’ gender from Callista, whose parents had been midwives back in Plumeria. 

Calliope took the journal from Lexie, who rolled to her side to lay her head onto Calliope’s belly and feel the baby move around. 

_ Dear Diary,  _

_ I fear for the safety of our people as the Horde grows nearer to our little haven in the woods. They grow stronger by the day and the Princess Alliance continues to squabble about the best course of action to defeat them. I just want to protect my daughter and her future. The runestone isn’t strong enough to protect us, not in the state it is in. Our predecessors were fools to think that the First Ones were helping us. The First One's tech that binds the runestone prevents us from using it to its full capabilities. They have hindered us from protecting ourselves and, like many queens before me, I fear that the runestone will take me as well to protect itself.  _

_ The only thing I can hope for is that I will live long enough to see my daughter grow into the beautiful young princess I know she will be. Her introduction ceremony is soon, we are so happy to present her to her people, who she will lead and serve one day.  _

_ Always hoping for the best, Musa _

“She was scared of the runestone… I don’t understand. What did the First Ones do to it? What even is our runestone?” Calliope questioned, running her fingers through Lexie’s hair. 

“What did she mean by… take her? Runestones aren’t sentient,” Lexie told her. Calliope chewed on her bottom lip, thinking. 

“What if the runestone isn’t a normal elemental runestone? What if it was somewhat sentient? Or smart? She was worried about it taking her like it did queens before her, and her fear came true. I saw it in my vision…” 

Lexie sat up, looking at her. “Didn’t you also see something in your reality? Your mom talked about the runestone then as well…” 

“I just wish I knew what it was. And what did she mean by taking? Does it sacrifice people?” Calliope worried out loud. 

“I think that’s a little ridiculous, runestones don’t kill people. Only the wielders can do that…” Lexie sighed, rubbing Calliope’s belly soothingly. “If you’re worried the same thing is going to happen to you, don’t. I won’t let it happen.”

“She didn’t have a choice. When there was great danger, the runestone protected itself and took her. What if…” Calliope gasps as realization dawns on her and she sits up abruptly, startling Lexie. “The runestone was protecting itself when the Horde attacked, it wiped Etheria’s memories. This runestone is so powerful that it affects the entire planet. Do you understand what this means? No wonder the Horde attacked us! Lex, we have to figure out what the runestone is, where it is, and how to protect it from being used as a weapon. I think it’s time we went to another Alliance meeting and figured this out.”

Lexie shook her head. “I’ll go to the Alliance meeting. It’s getting harder for you to move around and I don’t want you to hurt yourself on the trip.”

“But-” Lexie cut her off with a gentle kiss. 

“No buts. Stay with our people, continue building. I’ll leave in the morning and be back in a few days. Okay? I’ll even bring back one of those chocolate cakes you like so much,” Lexie bribed, to which Calliope softened at the mention of chocolate. 

“Okay, fine,” she huffed. “A few days, what can happen?”

_____________________________________________________________________________

To say she was surprised was an understatement. Lexie had entered the Brightmoon palace the following evening after leaving Musicia and had stumbled into a fight between the princesses and… Force Captain Scorpia? She blinked as Perfuma bound the force captain in vines and everyone started yelling, trying to figure what was going on. 

“Um… hello?” Lexie said, everyone, freezing to turn their attention to her as she waved awkwardly. “Do I even want to know?”

“Cadet Lexie! Man, it’s soo good to see a familiar face here! Are they always this intense?” Scorpia asked her as Lexie laughed nervously, stepping up to stand between Adora and Glimmer. 

“They’re a little intense to people who tend to attack them constantly, Force Captain,” she told her, causing Scorpia to blush in realization. 

“What are you doing here and how did you get in the palace?” Glimmer questioned and Scorpia started to explain about Princess Entrapta and Beast Island. 

“Beast Island- It’s REAL?!” Adora and Lexie said at the same time, shuddering. 

“What’s Beast Island?” Bow asked. 

“Just an island full of things trying to kill you! You’re sent there when they want to get rid of you!” Lexie exclaimed. 

“Well, Catra sent Entrapta to Beast Island and I helped her, and I let it happen. We need to rescue her,” Scorpia told them. 

“Entrapta is the best bet for us to disable the weapon safely. She’d know more than anyone,” Bow said. Lexie frowned, confused. 

“I’m sorry, a weapon?” 

“You missed the meeting but we can fill you in later. We are not rescuing Entrapta. We need to worry about stopping the Horde first,” Glimmer said, causing Bow and Adora to frown and attempt to argue. 

“No! Can we discuss this privately? You!” she pointed to Scorpia. “You’re our prisoner now. Frosta, take her to the prison.” Frosta looked at Glimmer, confused. 

Glimmer groaned. “The spare room.” She grabbed Bow, Adora, and Lexie and they teleported back into the war room. 

“Can someone please tell me what’s going on? There’s a weapon?” Lexie asked.

“Yes, the Heart of Etheria. The First Ones used it as a weapon, it’s an unstable mass of energy at the center of the planet. It needs to be disabled before it can be used to hurt everyone,” Adora explained. 

“No, we need to activate it. It can supercharge us and we can use the extra magic to defeat the Horde once and for all,” Glimmer argued. 

“It needs to be disabled,” Lexie said, shocking the trio in the room. 

“Uhh… you’re right… but you came to that conclusion quickly,” Adora noted. 

“We’ve been learning more about Musicia. Calliope’s mom writes about the Musician Runestone being bound in First One's tech, weakening its magic and using it to harm Etheria. She also wrote about the runestone taking queens to protect itself. From what you’re saying, it sounds like the runestone and the Heart of Etheria is one and the same. If that’s true, it needs to be disabled. The Horde attacked Musicia knowing something about the strength of the runestone and hoping to use it as a weapon but the Heart protected itself and wiped the knowledge of its existence from Etheria,” Lexie explained, starting to pace. 

“See! We need to disable it, not use it! We need to go to Beast Island and rescue Entrapta, she can help us,” Adora pleaded with Glimmer. 

“We need to find out how it works and how to access it!” she argued back. 

“What if it goes wrong? People will get hurt! It can destroy the planet!” Adora shot back. 

“Bow,” Glimmer said, turning to her oldest friend. “You understand what I’m trying to say. Tell her!”

“No. We need Entrapta. We need to disable the weapon,” he told her. 

“Why can’t you trust me in this!”

“Because you’re wrong!” he yelled, causing Glimmer to flinch back before straightening. 

“You think I'm wrong? Fine. But I am still queen. And as queen, I am ordering you. No one is going to Beast Island. You're not to set foot outside the castle unless I say so. End of discussion.” With that, she turned and stormed out of the war room. 

Lexie looked between Bow and Adora. “You have to disable the weapon. My fiance’s life depends on it, literally, and my kingdom. As well as the planet if the Horde got their hands on it. Just… please.” 

“Awww, fiance?!” Bow squealed, hugging her tightly. 

“Yes! Cant. Breathe!” Bow sat her down and she took a deep breath. 

“We’re still going to Beast Island. We’ll rescue Entrapta and we will disable the weapon. You have our word, Lexie,” Adora told her as the former cadet nodded and left the room, not wanting to be a part of whatever scheme they settled on to escape the palace. 

_____________________________________________________________________________

The next day was just as chaotic as the previous, even more so since Glimmer discovered that Bow and Adora had snuck out to go to Beast Island. Glimmer decided to make herself scarce that morning so Lexie wasn’t able to discuss more with her. She didn’t see much reason to stick around the palace and would have rather headed back to the kingdom to be with her people but something in her gut warned her that something was wrong. 

That’s how Lexie found herself in the garden that afternoon, after hours of pacing the hallways, with two people that she wished she would never have to see again. Shadow Weaver was chastising Scorpia, who was chasing a bot around that was destroying the flower beds. It was a strange sight. 

“Cadet Lexie!” Scorpia said excitedly, jogging over to her to pull her into a bone-crushing hug that left Lexie breathless. 

“Can’t. Breathe,” she muttered as Scorpia released her, rubbing the back of her neck sheepishly. 

“The cadet part isn’t necessary. I’m not with the Horde anymore,” she told the much taller woman, who blushed.

“I forgot. I was just so excited to see you! You’re the least hostile person I’ve met, besides Perfuma, who keeps trying to get me to eat green stuff,” Scorpia made a face but you could tell she didn’t mean it in a cruel way. 

“It’s definitely something to get used to. I’m having a hard time getting Calliope to keep anything green down, it makes her sick.”

“How come? Is it from the years of eating nothing but ration bars and having absolutely no developed taste?” Scorpia said, completely serious. Lexie laughed. 

“No. The baby doesn’t like the taste or smell apparently. The only thing that seems to settle her stomach is jerky, surprisingly,” she told her, watching as Scorpia’s eyes lit up.

“You’re having a baby?! Oh, my gods, that is so cool! Congratulations! Oh, I could just hug you again! But I won’t unless you want me to?” 

“I’m good, Scorpia. Thank you,” Lexie smiled until she heard a throat clear and she remembered that Shadow Weaver was still present. 

“So, she does possess magical capabilities after all?” Shadow Weaver said, never looking up from her plants. 

“Surprising the things you can accomplish when your self-esteem and worth isn’t constantly squashed down,” Lexie retorted, trying to keep a sneer off her face. 

“Not my fault she was feeble and weak. I tried to coax her talents to the surface for years but she was always too timid.”

“You see weakness, I see kindness. She never belonged to the Horde, no matter what you did to her. You could never break her spirit. Even now, as we rebuild our kingdom, she gives the people around her hope, something you always managed to kill.”

Luckily, Glimmer entered the garden before Shadow Weaver had a chance to say anything. 

“Your Majesty, you’re back. Did you find what you were looking for?” Shadow Weaver asked, turning her attention to Glimmer. 

“Yes. Light Hope told me everything and I have a plan. Scorpia, I need your help,” Glimmer said, turning away from Shadow Weaver. 

“Me?” Scorpia questioned.

“You’re the only person who can save Etheria. We need to reconnect you with the Black Garnet.”

“Glimmer,” Lexie started, stepping towards the young queen. “You’re trying to activate the Heart. Please, I beg you to reconsider and wait for Adora and Bow to come back before we do anything too rash.”

“Everyone here seems to have forgotten that I am the Queen and I am doing what is best for Etheria,” Glimmer retorted, staring Lexie down who straightened herself, accepting the challenge. 

“You are putting everyone at risk with this plan, especially my fiance! Who knows what the Heart will do to her when you activate it! Are you willing to sacrifice her? Sacrifice Etheria?”  
“I am not sacrificing Etheria! I am saving us! I am getting rid of the Horde once and for all and if that means I have to sacrifice one person for it, then I will!” Glimmer yelled before her eyes widened with realization at what she said. 

Lexie glared at her and if looks could kill, Glimmer would be six feet under. “I’m warning you, Your Majesty,” she said with venom in her voice. “If you go through with this and Callie gets hurt in the process, there is nothing on this planet that will stop me from making you pay the price for your actions. If you’ll excuse me, my fiance and my kingdom need me.” 

Lexie turned on her heel and stormed out of the garden, fury pouring off her and masking the absolute fear and dread that ate away at her gut. 

_

Calliope had been enjoying her morning singing to the strawberry field when she heard a yell. She stood up and ran down the path towards the gathering crowd, where a scouting team had returned, looking terrified. 

“Princess Calliope!” the scout leader, a young man from the Dryl Musicians, yelled when he spotted her and the crowd parted to let her head towards the group. 

“What happened? Are you okay?” She asked, eyeing him up and down for injuries. 

“We’re all fine but there were Horde Bots not even ten miles from the city!” the crowd started whispering, terrified. 

“Are you sure? They haven’t been that close to the city in years,” she asked and he nodded in confirmation. “Were there soldiers with them?”

“None that we could tell. We did not stick around long enough to find out either.”

Calliope scrunched her eyebrows in thought and looked around the crowd at the worried and terrified faces of her people. 

“We need to eliminate the threat before it gets any closer. Assemble a small team of your best warriors to help take out the bots. I’ll lead the fight, I have Horde training,” she told them as the scout leader nodded furiously, shouting orders at his team to gather volunteers and supplies. 

“Your Highness!” she turned to see Callista approach her, a horrified gleam in her eyes. “You can’t lead the fight! You are in no condition to do so!”

“I have to protect our people. We need to make sure that the bots don’t get any closer and discover our inhabited city. I’m the only one with actual combat training, I’m the best fit to lead the fight,” she explained. 

“What about yourself? Your child? Lexie isn’t here to stop you, that now falls on me. What would she think of you running into battle at five months?” Callista tried to reason but she saw the determined look on the princess’s face and knew she was fighting a lost cause. 

“She would be angry and she would go herself. But she’s not here to do that, she’s in Brightmoon to find answers on the runestone. She’s trying to protect our kingdom like I am. So stand out of the way before I make you,” she threatened before walking away. 

_

It was late afternoon when Calliope and the rest of the volunteers found the bots again, three in total. She had taught them some basic moves and strategies as they walked, noting that she needed to train her people to fight properly after they got back to the city. 

They crouched behind some bushes and signaled for two groups to split off on either side of her to ambush. The two teams got into position, three people in each group plus two additional people with her as she extended her staff, waiting. When the bots turned away from them, she gave the signal and all three teams leaped out of the bushes. 

Calliope was the first to a bot, quickly jumping up one of its legs to land on top of it and force her staff through the glass projector, disabling visual as her other two team members approached with swords, hacking off two of the legs. Calliope jumped off as the bot fell, panting heavily from the exertion as she watched one team successfully take down the second bot. 

She heard a yell and turned to see the third bot toss one of the volunteers through the air, landing against a tree with a sickening crunch. 

“Someone go and help him!” she yelled as she ran to the third bot, sliding underneath it as it lurched towards her and stabbed her staff upwards into its bottom, causing it to finally fall as she managed, barely, to roll out of the way. 

“Princess? Are you okay?” one of her teammates came over to her and helped her up off the ground. 

“I’m fine. How is he?” She asked, referring to the man who was thrown, and the person who helped her shrugged as they headed over to check on their injured comrade. 

“Status report,” she asked when she saw the scout leader, who saluted as he approached. 

“One seriously injured, two minorly injured. Overall success, princess,” he smiled and she nodded, frowning. 

“That was too easy…” she mumbled, causing the scout leader to frown. “You thought that was easy?” he asked. 

“Yes. Let’s get our comrades back to the city and to the healers,” she told him as he nodded and rounded up the group. 

Something didn’t feel right and Calliope scanned the treeline, trying to find the source of her discomfort. Just when she had convinced herself that it was all in her head, she heard a branch break and twirled around to see the first Horde soldier rush out of the bushes.

“It’s an ambush! Protect the wounded!” she yelled as she charged at the Horde soldier and their staffs clashed with a loud ringing noise. A few more soldiers jumped out of the bushes as her team charged forward to defend her and the wounded.

She pulled her staff back and ducked as the soldier swung towards her head, allowing her to use her staff to hit their legs and cause them to crash to the ground, where she quickly smacked them in the head with the end of her staff to knock them out. She turned to help the rest of her team when light surrounded her and she screamed, falling to her knees. 

It was painful and it engulfed her in a purple and blue haze that started at her feet and reached up above her head. She screamed again as she bent forward, her arms wrapping around her stomach to try to protect her child from this. She could feel the energy coursing through her veins, power that she knew she could use but felt blocked from her. She vaguely felt the ground rumbling underneath her and she tried to lift her head to find her team when she felt a sharp pain at the back of her neck.

She reached up to grab at it and felt her eyes starting to droop. Her hands fell forward to balance herself as she lifted her head to see a tall woman standing before her. Terra smiled at her, crouching down to put a hand under Calliope’s chin. 

“Oh, Calliope. You thought you could get away from me. I’m gonna make sure I never lose you again,” she said as Calliope fell forward, unconscious from the serum she had been injected with. 

_

Lexie had made it to the edge of the city when the rumbling started. “Oh no…” She ran into the city as she heard the people yelling and ushered them into their homes. She searched around frantically, trying to keep her balance as the planet trembled beneath her. 

“Get into your homes! Don’t stay in the streets! Where’s Calliope?!” she screamed out as she made her way towards the building they resided. The rumbling stopped and she finally lost her balance, falling to her knees. 

“Lexie!” she heard and looked up to see Callista and Brio running towards her. Callista dropped in front of her, checking her over for injuries as Brio looked up into the sky, mouth falling open. 

“There are stars,” he said in awe, causing Lexie and his wife to look up in amazement. 

“She did it… she activated the Heart… Oh gods, where’s Callie?!” Lexie begged, gripping Callista’s shoulders. Callista gave her an uncomfortable look. 

“There were bots spotted about ten miles from here… She insisted on leading a group to eliminate the threat…”

“She what?!” Lexie screamed, releasing her to stand up. 

“They should be back any minute now, that was this afternoon!”

“Princess Consort!” Lexie turned to the new voice, seeing the scout leader running towards her. She met him halfway. 

“Where is she?!” she asked, frantically looking behind him. 

“We… We were ambushed when taking down the bots… then the ground started to shake and the Princess started to glow and… a grey-eyed woman took the princess…” 

Lexie’s breath hitched as she stared at him before growling and lurching forward, feeling strong arms grab her from behind before she could get her hands on the scout leader. 

“How could you let her go?! You were supposed to protect her! You were all supposed to protect her!” she screamed as Brio struggled to keep his grip on her, adjusting to put her in a headlock as she twisted and turned violently. 

“W-we couldn’t stop her,” the scout leader said nervously, stepping back from the angry woman. Callista came up to him, putting a reassuring hand on his shoulder. 

“Were there any injuries?” she asked gently.

“Y-yes, they are headed to the med bay now, Miss Callista,” he informed her before taking one last look at Lexie, who was now slouching in Brio’s grip before leaving. 

Lexie panted, losing the fight in her as her knees buckled and she slouched to the ground, Brio going down with her, loosening his grip slightly.

“Terra has her… She’s gonna hurt her, she’s gonna hurt our child…” Lexie said weakly, tears brimming in her eyes. 

“We’re gonna get her back, hotshot. I promise,” he told her, releasing her completely to instead wrap his arms around her comfortingly. She buried herself in his embrace, trembling with fear, anxiety, and anger. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew! That was... a lot. I had to rewrite this chapter a couple of times because I was unsatisfied with how it was going but I like how it turned out!


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Calliope is tortured and Lexie goes out of her mind

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PLEASE READ: Blood, violence, rape/noncon, miscarriage/abortion trigger warning! 
> 
> This chapter is very intense and may make some readers uncomfortable!
> 
> Please DO NOT READ if any of these subjects are sensitive to you! 
> 
> And, as always, enjoy

Chapter Seventeen

When Calliope woke up, she knew something wasn’t right. Everything ached and she was cold, which usually wasn’t the case considering that Lexie was a heater in bed. She tried to move her arms, only to realize that they were bound behind her and she cracked her eyes open slowly, flinching back from the lights above her. 

She squeezed her eyes shut again, groaning silently, and pressed her face into the pillow below her to gain her bearings, still feeling groggy and completely drained. It felt as if all the energy had been sucked out of her and she opened her mouth experimentally, noticing a lack of noise emitting from her. That was gonna be a problem. 

Her head jerked up at the sound of a door and she looked to see Terra entering the room, closing the door behind her. Calliope managed to scurry herself up towards the wall at the head of the bed despite her bound arms, trying to put as much distance between herself and Terra. That’s when she noticed that she was only wearing a standard-issue bra and shorts that exposed her belly and she curled her legs up to cover her belly and hide. 

“Whoa! Hey! It’s okay! I just brought some water and a ration bar, you have to be hungry,” Terra said, stepping towards the bed with the bar and a bottle of water in one hand. Calliope stared at her with fearful eyes, chest heaving. 

“You can’t eat by yourself… I’m not gonna touch you, you need to eat,” Terra said as she sat at the edge of the bed, holding the ration bar up like a peace offering. Calliope glanced between her and the ration bar, trying to deny her hunger but feeling it humble from deep within her. Terra smiled triumphantly at the sound and Calliope let out an inaudible sigh as she scooted her way over, sitting on her knees. 

Terra held the ration bar up to Calliope’s lips and she took a hesitant bite, chewing the bland nutrients before swallowing it, having a harder time putting it down after months of not having to eat them. Terra allowed her to get through half the bar before pulling it away and holding the water bottle, allowing the water to pour out into Calliope’s mouth. She drank it greedily, some of it dribbling down her chin. 

“Better?” Terra asked as she pulled the water bottle away and Calliope nodded as she started to scoot away again. Terra was quicker, tossing the stuff aside and grabbing Calliope’s knees before she could go far. Calliope squirmed, leaning back as Terra leaned up, licking at the water on Calliope’s chin, which caused the smaller girl to shudder in disgust. 

Terra seemed to take it as an encouragement as she pushed Calliope down onto the bed, following her to settle between her legs as she trailed kisses down her neck. The position really hurt Calliope’s arms, which were now pinned underneath her and she struggled against Terra, who was putting an uncomfortable amount of pressure on her stomach. 

“Stop moving!” Terra demanded, pulling away to glare down at the younger girl as a giant wad of spit landed on her face. She gasped, pulling away completely as Calliope rolled, falling off the other side of the bed. She landed on her back, letting out a silent hiss in pain. 

“Fucking bitch!” Terra screamed as she lunged forward, grabbing her ankle and dragging her across the floor as Calliope kicked out, trying to get herself free. They stopped on the other side of the room, where Terra dropped her ankle and moved, grabbing hold of Calliope’s curls that brought the other girl up to her knees again. Terra proceeded to slam her head into the wall. 

Calliope bit her tongue as the world spun and she was vaguely aware of Terra releasing the bind on her arms from behind her only for them to be pulled up above her head and attached to something. The new position had her knees very slightly elevated off the ground, less than an inch where she was still sitting but it was a strain and pain. Her arms were elevated above her head, stretching her out completely as her ears slowly stopped ringing and she looked up to see Terra glaring down at her. 

Terra forcefully grabbed Calliope’s jaw, forcing her to look up at her. “We can do this the easy way or the hard way. The easy way is you submitting to me willingly as you should. You do that and I allow you to eat, I won't harm you, and you can rest properly. The hard way is me forcing you to submit by whatever means necessary. Either way, I am going to completely wipe the memory of Lexie off you permanently. What’s it going to be?”

Calliope gritted her teeth and snapped her jaws at Terra in an effort to bite her, earning a punch in the jaw that had her head whipping back and blood flooding her mouth. Terra grabbed her hair, pulling her head back forward. 

“Hard way it is, then,” she smirked, wrapping a hand around Calliope’s throat. 

______________________________________________________________________________

Lexie was making a tree regret ever existing as she pummeled it relentlessly with her fists. Her knuckles were split and bleeding profusely, it was a miracle she had not broken her knuckles on the hardwood but it was either to destroy this tree or hurt someone and she couldn’t conceive hurting one of her people. 

It had been about a week since Calliope had been taken and she was beyond frustrated with the lack of action. Lexie wanted to keep the problem contained to the city but everyone, aka the emergency council meeting that they had with people who didn’t know how to run a council (she really needed to interview and gather a proper council after this) wanted to involve the Rebellion, to which Lexie refused. This was partly Glimmer’s fault and she was never going to forgive her for putting Calliope in danger. If she had not been distracted by the Heart activating, she would have been able to defend herself against Terra. 

The thought of Terra sent Lexie into another frenzy of punches. She swore when she saw Terra’s stupid face, she was going to punch it in the way she was punching this tree in. Terra was going to pay for ever even thinking about Calliope. She cursed as the wood splintered and a piece got stuck in her hand. The pain was nothing compared to the absolute rage she felt boiling within her but she grudgingly headed back to find Callista. 

The people steered clear of her on the street, feeling the negative energy rolling off her in waves. A part of her hated that the people were scared of her but she couldn’t help the dark could that lingered. Calliope was the people person, Lexie was the muscle, she was not good at any of this. 

Callista sighed when she looked up from the grapevines she was helping grow and saw Lexie making her way over. She met her halfway with a scowl on her face, Lexie having the decency to give her a sheepish yet strained smile in return as the older woman got to work on her hands. They were silent as she worked, Callista focusing on her task as Lexie concentrated on remaining calm long enough for Callista to finish. That’s how Brio found them after twenty minutes. 

“There’s enough tension here to kill the Horde,” he joked as he approached them, causing his wife’s scowl to turn to him as he put his hands up in surrender.

“Shut up, old man. You have the worst dad jokes,” Lexie told him, hissing in pain as Callista pulled out the last little splinter. 

“You should take note, hotshot, so you can start telling your own bad dad jokes to your little one,” he told her, watching his wife wrap the younger girls' hands in bandages. Lexie pulled away when she was done, gingerly flexing her fingers. 

“Nah, I’ll leave those to you. But we’ll call them bad god-dad jokes,” she told him, standing up. Brio put a hand over his heart, pretending to wipe a tear from his eye.

“You would really let me corrupt your child like that? I am touched,” he said with a smile. 

“We get them back and I’ll let you do whatever the fuck you want, old man,” she mumbled, pressing her hands closer to her chest. Brio put a hand on her shoulder reassuringly. 

“We’re going to get her back. You should really consider asking for help from the Rebellion, our people are not fighters. But they are loyal as hell and will do whatever they need to do to save their princess. You should too,” he told her, sighing as she jerked away from him angrily. 

“We are not calling the Rebellion. Brightmoon betrayed us by activating the runestone and putting her in danger. I will never forgive Glimmer for this. We do it on our own. I’ll do it on my own if I have to,” she hissed at him.

“You’re gonna take on the Horde yourself, Lexie? That sounds like a good way to get yourself killed,” Callista said, crossing her arms over her chest. 

“If I have to, I will. I was one of them, they won’t be able to take me down so easily,” she shot back at the older woman. 

“Calliope is too. Have you forgotten that? She can handle herself. She’s fighting right now for herself and for her child and I have to think that the activation of the Heart drained her, which is why she hasn’t made it back to us yet. We need help. Put your pride aside for her, for your child!” Callista informed her. Lexie growled in frustration, feeling the urge to punch something again. 

“The Heart made her powerless. That’s why she was captured so easily. If it drained her, I can only imagine that she is unable to use her voice right now to bust her way out. Knowing Terra, she is using it to her advantage to make sure that Calliope will be unable to escape when she is able to. The longer we wait, the worse it will be and you can inform the council that I will be going as soon as I am able to, with or without them. Calliope fights every day for our kingdom, it’s about time the kingdom fought just as hard for her,” Lexie said, turning and storming away from the older couple to go give that tree another piece of her mind.

______________________________________________________________________________

Calliope’s head hung limply against her arm. Everything hurt, no part of her had been left untouched by Terra. Bruises littered her body, it was hard to breathe in her position and every breath made her ribs ache. Blood caked underneath her nose and along her temple where Terra had smashed her head into the wall. It had been a few days and she was starving, having been denied food but given small amounts of water. 

She feared for her child. Thankfully, Terra had left her stomach mostly alone but she worried the lack of food would harm her baby and thanked the gods every time she felt them flutter softly within her. She didn’t even look up when Terra came into the room, head too heavy to lift. The taller girl made her way over to her, holding a set of headphones, and stopped in front of Calliope.

“I really hate to have to do this so I’ll give you another chance. Do this the easy way and submit willingly, Callie. I hate seeing you suffer and I know you’re hungry,” Terra told her, crouching to be at eye level. Calliope glared at her through her good eye, the other swollen shut. 

“G-go. t-t-to. H-hell…” she managed to whisper out, causing Terra to growl and pull out a syringe. Calliope tried to scream but Terra forced the needle into the side of her neck and she felt her voice fade again. 

“Vocal paralytic. I was wondering when I was going to have to use it on you, can’t have another incident like the locker room when I do this,” she told her, pulling the needle out and putting the headphones over Calliope’s ears as the smaller girl panted. 

“You really should have submitted, Callie,” she told her, pulling away and pulling out a small box with a couple of dials on it. She pressed a button, a low hum emitting through the headphones before cranking up one of the dials, a louder screech replacing the hum, and Calliope’s body tensed, her head threw back, and she tried to scream.

The sound hurt her ears, rattled her brain, made everything in her seize up. Terra turned it down and Calliope collapsed forward as far as the chain above her would allow, gasping silently as tears streaked down her cheeks. Before she was able to catch her breath, Terra cranked it up again and her body went rigid as the silent screams tried to tear through her. 

Terra did this a few times, watching Calliope’s body protest to the sound but being unable to do anything about it. Her body jerked, trying to move away from the awful, high-pitched noise and she could feel her brain trying, desperately, to shut down and block out the painful sensation. She felt liquid pool around her ears, her eyes started to roll back into her skull, and then… silence. 

Her chest heaved with silent sobs, grateful that the noise had stopped. Terra stepped forward, moving the headphones off her ears where the blood ran freely down the sides of her head and onto her shoulders. She snapped her fingers above an ear and there was no reaction from Calliope, whose eyes had closed in exhaustion. 

She grabbed the rope holding Calliope and pulled her down, allowing the smaller girl to collapse on the floor beneath her before being picked up and laid on the bed, behind bound to one of the top legs. Calliope had no energy to protest or fight back, sinking into the hard mattress beneath her as she blacked out from the pain. 

______________________________________________________________________________

Lexie finished packing up her backpack days ago, she was just waiting for the perfect opportunity to slip out of the city. That was proving difficult since Callista or Brio seemed to be keeping a watchful eye out on her, stopping her at every turn and questioning all her movements. It was beyond irritating and Lexie had considered punching Brio out at least three times over the last couple of days but had refrained herself. Her friends were worried about her and were trying to help. 

The latest council meeting had gone about as well as the last three had: with everyone wanting to ask the Rebellion for help and Lexie refusing to even consider the idea.  _ Everyone was stressed and tired _ , Lexie kept reminding herself every time she had a violent thought.  _ Everyone wants to find Calliope but we have to think about the city and the people as well _ . 

It was on the fourth night after the last meeting that Lexie finally found herself alone. It had been about two weeks since Calliope disappeared and Lexie was at her wit's end with all of it. She waited silently until well into the early morning for the city to be asleep when she slipped on her backpack and made her way out. Every sound throughout the sleeping city made her hair stand on end as she snuck along the curved pathway towards the woods. She had almost made it when a voice made her nearly jump out of her skin.

“Where are you going, hotshot?” Brio asked, stepping out from behind a pillar at the edge of the city. She gasped, trying to get her heart rate to slow back down before glaring at the older man. 

“You know exactly where I am going, old man. Are you going to stop me? I’m not afraid to put you in your place,” she hissed as she got into a fighting stance. Brio just shook his head, chuckling softly before pulling a backpack out from behind the pillar.

“I would be a bad friend if I let you go on your own. We’re going to go rescue her together, hotshot. You can’t do everything on your own,” he told her and she relaxed her position. 

“I can if I have to but the help is appreciated. What about Callista?” 

“She can hold down the city while we’re gone. Hopefully, it won’t be more than a couple of days at most. Let’s get going while we still have darkness on our side,” he said and Lexie nodded in agreement. The two journeyed off into the Whispering Woods. 

_____________________________________________________________________________

Calliope cracked her eyes open slowly, noting the complete silence around her. She could barely move, her body ached horribly and she silently hissed in protest as she straightened her legs, her knees raw from sitting on the floor for so long. Slowly, she tested her arms, which had little to no movement available and she twisted her wrists, biting her lip at the pain that shot through the raw skin.

As she slowly moved around, trying to stretch out some of the soreness, she realized that she could not hear any noises. The world was completely silent and she took a big gulp of air, releasing it and noting that she couldn’t even hear herself breathe. She laid her head back down, already feeling exhausted again, and didn’t notice Terra enter the room until she was standing in her line of vision. 

Calliope looked up at her, watching the taller girl's mouth move but no noise coming out and flinched back slightly when a hand reached out towards the side of her head but never touched her. Terra grinned and loosened Calliope’s bound hands, allowing her to sit up slightly as she fed her half a ration bar. 

The smaller girl didn’t protest, having had very little food to eat over the last… days? Weeks? Calliope was unsure of how long she had spent in this room, there was nothing there to indicate any passage of time. She greedily ate the bar Terra held out, using both hands that were still bound together but in front of her and not to the bed, to hold onto the other girl's wrist shakily. 

She looked up at Terra when she was done, watching the taller girl smirk down at her and she shuddered. She knew what Terra wanted and Terra knew what Calliope wanted: to survive. Survival is what drove Calliope to lick the remaining crumbs of the ration bars off of Terra’s fingers, trying to take whatever nutrients she could for her and her child. 

She felt the taller girl shudder and saw her mouth move. “You’ve chosen the easy way,” Terra said, knowing it would fall on deaf ears and she grabbed Calliope’s face between her hands, giving her a searing kiss on the mouth that the smaller girl didn’t fight. 

Exhaustion, pain, and survival are why Calliope allowed Terra to kiss her without a fight. It’s why she didn’t have any strength to push the taller girl away when she was gently pushed down onto the mattress, where kisses were administered along her jawline, neck, and chest. 

Calliope just closed her eyes, sinking into a place where she could pretend that she was back home with Lexie, this was a lazy morning that they were spending together. She had to survive so she could have that with her fiance again. She had to survive so she could see her child for the first time. She had to do anything she could to survive and she silently asked Lexie for forgiveness. 

_

She was tied back to the bed afterward, a sheet was thrown over her. Her body felt heavy and she could feel the unshed tears in her eyes as she closed them, bottom lip trembling. She felt Terra’s hand along with her hair, brushing it off her gently. Her back was to the taller girl, so she couldn’t even see her lips moving as she talked. 

“That wasn’t so bad, was it? You could have saved yourself a lot of pain and suffering by submitting sooner. If she comes for you, she’ll know you’re mine,” she said and laid a gentle kiss on the side of Calliope’s neck, smirking at the shudder she felt run through the smaller girl. 

“I have to completely erase her from you. I need to make you completely mine but this is in the way,” she murmured along the shell of Calliope’s ear as her hand traced down her side towards her belly. “I have to get rid of every trace of that woman from you so that you will be completely mine. It’s going to hurt for a while but you’ll feel better when it’s over, I promise.”

Calliope heard none of this, feeling the hot breath along her ear that made her shiver in revulsion. She didn’t see the needle, only felt it when it jabbed down into her side near her swollen belly. Her eyes popped open in surprise and pain as she jerked away, curling up protectively around her child as the needle was pulled away after injecting its substance. 

Terra kissed her temple as she got dressed and left the room, leaving Calliope trembling on the mattress as the first cramp hit her stomach. 


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Calliope makes a new friend, they are rescued, Musicia is compromised

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PLEASE READ: Blood, Violence, Miscarriage/Abortion, Suicidal thoughts are present in this chapter! Read at your own risk!

Chapter Eighteen

Lexie and Brio had made it to the edge of the Fright Zone by the next morning. They set up a small camp just within the trees and watched the guard rotation, agreeing to wait till nightfall to make their move. They had to duck a few times and hide from surveillance droids but remained undetected. 

“Something doesn’t feel right. It seems… quiet,” Lexie told Brio quietly as they enjoyed an apple and some goat cheese. 

“We just need to use the quietness to our advantage. Get in and get out without causing too much of a stir. Where do we start?” He asked, taking a bite out of his apple slice. 

“We’re outside the dining hall right now. She’s in one of two places. A holding cell, which is underground and vast. It will take longer to find her there. Or she’s in a Force Captain barrack if Terra was ever promoted like I’m thinking she was. I know which rooms are already occupied by previous Force Captains and can deduce which one she will be staying in. But that means we are going up against the best of the best and not just random guards.”

“Which do you suggest? We want to do this right the first time and not be running around the building looking for her. If what you say is true, the Force Captain barracks sounds like the best shot of doing that,” Brio commented. Lexie nodded in agreement.

“I don’t think Terra would let her be far so the barracks if the best option. Calliope is probably gonna be weak and tired so one of us is going to have to carry her. I need you to carry her, I’ll clear our path if I have to,” Lexie said thoughtfully, chewing on her cheese. 

“You want me to carry her because I’m stronger or because you want to go after this Terra girl?” Brio questioned. Lexie snorted, glaring at him. 

“She’s going to be dead weight and I’m the better fighter. I’m also gonna make Terra wish she was never born,” Lexie mumbled the last part, causing Brio to chuckle softly. 

_____________________________________________________________________________

Calliope hadn’t stopped bleeding in three days. The first day, cramps plagued her stomach and all she could do was curl around her baby and pray as the blood flowed freely down her leg. She felt her baby fluttering within her, she had tried to comfort them as best she could but by the end of the second day, she couldn’t feel anything anymore. 

The world was silent around her, no sound was able to escape her lips, and she couldn’t move from her position on the bed. All she felt was the soaked mattress underneath her and the hot tears that rolled down her cheeks. Calliope had never wanted to die more than in that moment, along with her baby. 

She didn’t see the door open, didn’t hear it as she stared numbly at the wall opposite of the bed until a small figure came into her line of vision. She blinked the tears away, looking at the person, confused. A young girl, probably no older than nine, crouched in front of her and started untying her wrists. She had short-cropped red locks and vibrant green eyes with freckles splayed all across her nose and cheeks. She said something but it fell on deaf ears as she finished untying the rope.

“We have to get you out of here before she gets back. Something weird is happening, everyone is acting funny. Come on, get up,” the young girl said, grabbing a standard-issued shirt of Terra’s from out of a drawer and helping Calliope sit up, pulling the large shirt over her frame. Calliope just stared at her, unshed tears in her eyes, and her lips moved as if to try to speak but unable to.

The young girl grabbed her legs, pulling them around and off the bed, sitting her feet on the floor, and gasped at the blood that coated the older woman’s thighs. She looked up at her sadly before putting her shoulder underneath the bigger woman and helped her stand. Calliope’s legs tried to betray her, she almost instantly collapsed onto the ground if not for the young girl helping her. 

She gripped onto the younger girl's shoulders, finding her footing as fresh blood flowed down her calves and onto the floor. The young girl started towards the door by Calliope stopped her, pointing back towards the rope on the bed. She seemed to understand and released Calliope for a moment to retrieve the rope, handing it to the older woman. 

Calliope gripped it before pointing to the door and had the young girl lead her there and indicated as best as she could for them to wait there. Fortune must have been on their side because it wasn’t ten minutes later that Terra entered the room. She took a few steps in, her back facing Calliope and the young girl as she took in the empty bed before being tackled to the ground. 

The young girl had tackled her, making Terra lose her balance and fall forward before Calliope was on her back, wrapping the rope around her neck and pulling it taunt. Terra clutched at the rope, trying to gasp for a breath as Calliope wrapped the rope around her hands for better grip and pulled tighter, as tight as she could get it, and sobbed silently. After a few minutes, Terra stopped struggling, going limp underneath her but Calliope didn’t let go. She wanted to make sure she was dead. 

The young girl stood back, watching with a frightened expression, hand pressed over her mouth to prevent any noise from escaping. Calliope’s chest heaved as she finally released her grip, watching Terra’s head fall limp onto the ground. With trembling hands, she felt forward until she reached a pulse point on her neck and waited, only pulling away when she felt no pulse underneath her fingertips. 

She looked up at the frightened girl, crawling off the body before reaching forward, the young girl instantly falling into the older girl's arms as she trembled, horrified at what just happened. Calliope held her for a few moments, running her fingers through her hair soothingly, wishing she could hum a comforting lullaby. 

After a few minutes, she pulled away, pointing towards the door to which the younger girl nodded in understanding as she got up and helped the older girl up, supporting her as they escaped the barrack. 

_

Lexie and Brio were just about ready to storm the Fright Zone when they saw two figures emerge from a side door and scurried into the bushes to hide.

“The rotation wasn’t supposed to happen for another ten minutes,” Brio hissed as they peeked through the underbrush, trying to make out the figures. 

“Something isn’t right. Those don’t look like guards…” Lexie said, squinting her eyes at the figures heading towards the woods. “They’re coming this way!” she hissed back at him. 

“Should we run or fight?” Brio said, looking at her. She bit her lip, thinking. 

“Fight. Take them out as quickly and silently as possible. We can steal their uniforms and try to blend in,” Lexie said as she heard the first snaps of branches to indicate they had entered the forest line. “On my count,” she whispered as they got into a crouching position.

She held out her hand, putting her fingers up until she got to three and they sprung out from their hiding place, ready to take out the two figures before Lexie noticed who it was.

“Callie!” she nearly screamed, surging forward to her fiance who was being held up by a young girl with short red hair. She grabbed her from the young girl and Calliope collapsed into her arms, her knees buckling underneath her. 

“Are you hurt, little lady?” Brio asked, crouching down in front of the young girl to assess her. She fidgeted under his gaze, biting her lip.

“No… it’s Haevyn… Something weird was happening in there. Everyone was acting funny and some of their eyes were glowing green. I had heard screaming from Force Captain Terra’s barrack and I had to help… I had too…” she started sobbing, collapsing into the older man’s arms, who held her gently. 

“You did good, Haevyn. You were very brave. You saved her life,” he reassured her, petting her hair gently as the young girl trembled. 

“We have to go. We can’t stay here. Terra will come looking soon,” Lexie said, having already lifted Calliope up into her arms. Haevyn just shook her head at her.

“Force Captain Terra is dead… she killed her…” Lexie blinked, looking down at Calliope who was fighting closing her eyes as she gripped onto her shirt. She immediately felt the blood coating her arm closest to Calliope’s legs and inhaled sharply, hugging her fiance closer to her.

“Terra deserved it. We have to get her to Callista, she’s bleeding badly,” Lexie said and Brio nodded, standing up with Haevyn still clinging to his neck and he held the young girl to him as they made their way into the Whispering Woods.

_____________________________________________________________________________

They walked through the night as Calliope drifted in and out of consciousness. Lexie cradled her close the whole time and they only stopped once to rest and eat, Haevyn greedily devouring the apple offered to her. Brio chuckled at her enthusiasm and offered his goat cheese as well, to which her eyes widened and she quietly thanked him before splitting it and offering him half back. 

As they walked, Lexie questioned Haevyn for any information she could give her. 

“I had heard the screaming for a couple of weeks inconsistently,” she said from over Brio’s shoulder as the older man carried her and walked in front of Lexie and Calliope. “I tried to ignore it, I’m only allowed in the barracks to do the laundry. But they stopped one day, which scared me more than when I could hear them. When the weird stuff started happening, I decided to go check it out while everyone was distracted and found her lying in the bed. I tried talking to her but never responded. I don’t think she can hear and she was bleeding badly from her legs. I got her free but she insisted on staying behind. That’s when she strangled Terra. It was… awful,” she finished, burying her face into Brio’s shoulder.

Lexie frowned, looking down at her sleeping fiance’s face. Bruises littered the pale skin of her cheeks and neck and now that she was looking, she could see trace amounts of dried blood inside of her exposed ear. 

“Thank you… for saving her. You were very brave,” Lexie said softly, looking up to see those green eyes peeking up at her. 

“We should be at the city entrance soon,” Brio told them, noting the rising sun. “You’re going to love Musicia. We’re currently rebuilding, so it looks a little funny but everyone is nice, there is plenty to eat, and music flows through the streets. My wife, Callista, is going to love you,” he said to Haevyn, who blushed. Lexie smiled at them, noting how easily they got along together. 

“Looks like you have someone who would enjoy your dad jokes, old man,” she teased him, causing him to send a glare over his shoulder. 

“Shut up, hotshot. You love my dad jokes as well,” he told her as Calliope shifted in Lexie’s arms, a soft whimper escaping her. Lexie adjusted her gently, pressing a gentle kiss onto her forehead as she settled back down. They walked up to the city entrance and stopped, confused. Usually, by this time in the morning, the city was bustling with life for everyone starting their day. 

“It’s too quiet…” Lexie told them and they walked a little farther into the city, looking around. 

“Maybe Callista gave them the day off?” Brio said hopefully, keeping a tighter grip on Haevyn, who was looking around curiously. 

“Doubt it, we can’t afford a day off right now,” Lexie mumbled, turning towards a movement in a window. She frowned, walking towards the window. 

“My love!” they turned toward the sound, seeing Callista standing in the middle of the empty street. Brio seemed to sigh with relief as he headed towards her but Lexie hung back, something didn’t feel right. 

“Oh thank gods! We got worried when we came back and no one had started the day. Where is everyone?” He asked and Haevyn squirmed in his arms. 

“Why, in Horde Prime’s light, my love. Why don’t you join us? Everyone is welcomed into his light,” she said with an unnerving smile that stopped Brio in his tracks as her eyes glowed bright green.

“It’s the weird thing… we have to get out of here,” Haevyn told him, tugging on his shoulder.

“Callista? What are you talking about?” He asked and Lexie looked around as the rest of the citizens started to file out of the buildings, coming up behind Callista. 

“Horde Prime wishes for everyone to join him in his glorious light, my love. Why don’t you join us? Lexie? Horde Prime can give you everything you ever wanted. He can help Calliope,” Callista said as she and the crowd stepped forward towards them. 

“Drown out the darkness, come into the light,” the crowd chanted. 

“Brio! We have to go!” Lexie shouted as she turned and ran back out of the city. Brio stared at Callista for another moment before turning and following behind as the crowd pursued them into the woods. 

“We have to shake them!” Lexie shouts, trying not to stumble over rocks and tree branches. 

“I got it! Get me near a cliff!” he shouts back as he grips onto Haevyn, who is watching over his shoulder as the crowd follows, Callista in the lead as she sings out, the plant life around them growing up and trying to grab them. Lexie turns, making her way towards a cliff she knows is nearby. 

Haevyn screams as a vine barely miss them and Brio jumps over a fallen trunk. They make it to the cliff face and run down the length of it. 

“What are we looking for?!” Lexie shouts over her shoulder.

“An entrance into the cliffs! There!” he shouts back and Lexie looks to see a crevice big enough for them to slip through and she beelines towards it, panting heavily. Brio slips in after her and turns, belting out a loud scream that makes the cliff sides shudder violently. Rocks start to fall over the mouth of the crevice, blocking off the entrance and blocking the crowd from following them. He heard his wife screech from the other side and he followed after Lexie quickly. 

“Damn, old man. I didn’t know you had that in you,” she huffed out as they made their way through the labyrinth of rock. 

“I lived in the Kingdom of Snows, remember? Avalanches are my specialty,” he smirked back and they fell silent as they tried to find their way out of the cliffs. It took about an hour but they managed to fall out on the other side and back into the woods. They didn’t stop until they found a good cover of trees to conceal themselves. 

Lexie collapsed against one of the trees, groaning as Calliope gripped onto her, looking around frantically at their surroundings. Lexie tried to comfort her as best as she could but it’s hard when she couldn’t hear anything that was going on. Brio collapsed beside them with Haevyn, who had tears streaming down her cheeks. 

“W-what happened to them?” she sniffled, wiping her nose with her hand. Both adults just shook their heads, just as confused as she was. 

“All we know is that Musicia has been compromised and it’s not safe to go there right now. We need somewhere else to go,” Brio told her, patting her head. 

“If Musicia is compromised, then the other kingdoms are too. I hate to say this, but we need to find the Rebellion. Calliope isn’t doing well,” Lexie said, looking down at her fiance who was paler than usual. When Lexie pulled her arm out from under Calliope’s legs, it was stained red with her blood. “We need She-ra.”

“What’s to say the Rebellion isn’t compromised? We don’t even know what compromise is!” Brio told her, staring at the blood. 

“She’s… We have to get her to someone! She’s bleeding out! The baby…” Lexie breathed heavily, trying to hold back tears. Calliope reached up gently, her fingers grazing her cheek softly in silent comfort. 

“Fine… let’s find the Rebellion. And pray they are better off than we are,” Brio reluctantly agreed. 


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group look for the Rebellion

Chapter Nineteen

They stopped again a few hours later to rest and eat. They wouldn’t say it but Lexie and Brio were exhausted from running almost non-stop since the previous night and carrying the extra weight of the two girls even though Haevyn was perfectly capable of walking by herself. They ate some beef strips and bread they had stored in their backpacks and Lexie managed to get Calliope to keep down some of the bread. 

“We rest for a few hours, take turns watching while the others sleep. It shouldn’t be much longer before we reach the Rebellion camp outside of Brightmoon. Let’s hope it’s still standing, otherwise, we’re in deep shit. I’ll take the first watch,” Lexie said, making sure Calliope is comfy as the smaller girl curls up against the taller girl's legs, already unconscious. Brio just shook his head. 

“You need more sleep than me. You’ve been carrying a heavier load than I have. I’ll take the first watch,” he insisted as Haevyn stretched out, staring up at the darkening sky of the Whispering Woods. 

“No way, old man. My load is heavier but I’m younger and stronger. I’ll take the first watch,” Lexie told him, glaring. 

“How about I take the first watch?” Haevyn piped up, looking at the two adults who stared back at her. She rolled her eyes, sitting up. 

“I may be young but I can fight, and I’m the least exhausted of all of us. Just for an hour or two so you both can rest,” she told them and the two adults looked at each other, uncomfortable. 

“You should leave this to us, Haevyn. We can keep watch,” Brio told her but she just shook her head stubbornly, causing the older man to sigh. 

“She is Horde trained… not to the extent that Callie and I are but she knows her stuff, they start young… A couple of hours won’t hurt…” Lexie mumbled, causing Brio to start protesting before she sent him a sharp glare, the protests dying on his tongue. 

“Wake us if anything happens, Haevyn. No longer than two hours. I’ll take the next watch,” she told the younger girl, who saluted and propped herself up against a tree trunk as the two adults settled down. Lexie curled around Calliope, wrapping an arm around her waist and frowning at the receding stomach before falling into an uncomfortable sleep. 

_

Lexie sat up with a gasp, blinking around confusedly at the dark forest surrounding them. Calliope shifted beside her, letting out a small groan of protest as Lexie smoothed her hair down, calming her partner down. She searched around until she found Haevyn sitting in the same place as before, keeping her eyes out on the woods around them. 

“Haevyn? Status report?” Lexie questioned softly, stretching. 

“I let you sleep longer than two hours. No movement in the forest around us, some unidentified noises but they passed by quickly. No signs of bots or people to report. I suggest carrying onwards with the darkness to shroud us,” Haevyn reported, standing from her spot to stretch as well. Lexie frowned.

“You shouldn’t have let us sleep any longer. You went against a direct order,” Lexie told her, causing Haevyn to stiffen. 

“I’m sorry… You both were sleeping so peacefully and the forest is so relaxing… I didn’t want to disturb you…” she trailed off, looking down at her feet. Lexie sighed, standing as well. 

“I’m sorry. Thank you for allowing us to sleep. This isn’t the Horde and I should not have treated you as if we were still there. Old habits die hard,” Lexie said, rubbing the back of her neck sheepishly. Haevyn just smiled. 

“Alls forgiven. Gonna take some getting used to,” she mumbled as she bent down to wake Brio up, who snorted mid snore and sat up quickly, rubbing his eyes. 

“W-what time is it?” he grumbled, stretching out the kinks. 

“Late into the night, judging from the position of the moons. It’s just a couple of hours to the Rebellion camp. We will reach it way before daybreak, it’ll give us cover to see if the camp has been compromised as the city has. We can eat as we walk,” she said, putting on her pack and gently picking up Calliope into her arms, noticing her breathing growing shallower. “We need to hurry…” 

Brio packed up, handing out some apples as he slipped on his pack and offered to pick Haevyn up. The young girl shook her head, instead opting to take his hand as the group headed back into the forest. 

_

They had made it to the Rebellion camp a couple of hours later, just as Lexie predicted, only to see it torn apart and illuminated by the moonlight. Lexie cursed at the sight, taking in the ripped tents and overturned tables that littered the ground. 

“Looks like there was a fight…” Brio mumbled softly, rubbing his forehead in frustration. 

“There is no doubt there was a fight. Looks like they are in the same boat as us. I wonder if there are any stragglers like us?” Lexie said quietly. 

“I’m sure there is… but where? They could be hiding anywhere in the woods now,” Brio huffed as Haevyn craned her neck over the bushes to look at the camp. 

“I saw a striped berry bush a couple of miles back,” the young girl said absentmindedly as the adults looked at her. 

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Lexie hissed, causing Haevyn to inch back and hide behind Brio.

“I… I didn’t think it was important…” she mumbled into his back. 

“It’s not her fault, hotshot. She’s a child. Let’s backtrack, find the bush, and go from there. It’s our best shot,” he whispered, causing Lexie to grumble softly but agree and they headed back the way they came, taking another half hour to track down the bush that Haevyn remembered seeing. 

Brio circled it, looking at the ground. “Someone was definitely here… look at how the grass flattens over here,” he pointed to an area that led away from the bush. “They headed that way.”

“Let’s follow it then. It’s our best bet. Also, where did you learn to track?” Lexie questioned as she followed him and Haevyn in the direction he had pointed out. 

“If you can track in snow, you can track in anything. You have to learn survival skills living out in that frozen wasteland,” he told her as they walked. Lexie was impressed but she didn’t let it show, not wanting to inflate his ego. 

They walked another hour, having to stop every so often so Lexie could adjust Calliope, who was staring blankly up into the night sky. Lexie would occasionally get her attention, to which Calliope would give a half-hearted smile that didn’t seem to reach her eyes and go back to staring up. It got harder to get her attention with every stop. 

“She’s getting worse, Brio. Is there anything?” Lexie said desperately, panting from the physical and emotional weight she was carrying. They stopped in a very small clearing with some rocks covered in vines and large trees lining the outside. 

“This is where it stops,” he said, looking around for any more signs. 

“This can’t be where it stops! There… there has to be more!” Lexie cried out, frustrated. They heard a small crack of a tree branch breaking and turned their heads towards the sound before everyone was engulfed in blocks of ice, their shoulders and heads left free. 

“Check their necks!” she heard a voice say and she swirled her head around to find Perfuma standing near the vine-covered rocks along with Swift Wind, She-Ra’s steed, and Sea Hawk as Frosta checked first Brio and Haevyn before going to her, checking her and Calliope’s necks before giving Perfuma a thumbs up and releasing the group.

“What the hell?! Perfuma?!” Lexie said, quickly going over to the Plumerian princess, who grasped her shoulders in greeting.

“It is good to see you, Lexie. We feared the worst after the portal opened and we heard nothing from you or Calliope. Oh, gods! What happened?” she said, finally noticing Calliope in Lexie’s arms and taking in their appearances. 

“Is there anyone here who can heal? She’s…” Lexie gulped as Perfuma nodded, leading everyone back through the vines and into the secret hideout of the Rebellion. Lexie looked around, only noticing Shadow Weaver and a taller woman in magician robes as Perfuma led her to a cot where she laid Calliope down. Calliope weakly reached out towards Lexie, trying and failing to grasp her shirt. 

“Shhhh, it’s okay. They’re going to help, my love,” she whispered softly, rubbing her thumb gently against the other girl's cheek. A whine left Calliope’s lips, a weak sob pouring out as the tall woman came over to them, kneeling on the other side of Calliope. 

“What happened to her?” she asked, looking at Lexie. 

“I… I wasn’t there… I don’t know… but she can’t hear anything and our baby…” a soft sob escaped her lips as she looked up at the other woman. “Please… I can’t lose her. She hasn’t stopped bleeding in days…” 

The woman nodded and started drawing runes over Calliope as Lexie held her hand, rubbing it gently against her cheek. Perfuma came up behind her, placing her hands gently on Lexie’s shoulders. 

“We need to talk. Castaspella will take care of her, I promise,” she said gently and Lexie hesitated as she watched Calliope’s face, which scrunched up in pain before relaxing, some color returning to her cheeks. Lexie nodded, moving away and joining the others in a small circle, where Brio and Haevyn were eating as they talked with everyone. 

“What happened? This can’t be what’s left of the Rebellion,” Lexie said as they took a seat and was handed a plate of food, which she scarfed down hungrily. 

“Unfortunately, it is. After the planet was pulled through the portal, Horde Prime came and started chipping everyone. This is what’s left. What about Musicia?” Perfuma asked, shoulders sagging slightly when Lexie shook her head.

“City was breached while we were gone to rescue Calliope from the Fright Zone,” Brio supplied. “We got back and everyone was chipped as well, even though we didn’t know that’s what had happened.”

“What was she doing in the Fright Zone?” Frosta butted in, crossing her arms over her chest. Lexie froze, her spoon suspended midair as she scowled, glaring over at Shadow Weaver. 

“Calliope was out with a team to disable some bots that were too close to the city and the Heart… it weakened her and Terra captured her. Where is Glimmer?" Lexie questioned, turning away from the old woman to look back at Perfuma. 

“Glimmer was captured by Horde Prime so Adora, Bow, and Entrapta left to rescue her shortly before the invasion. They are due back soon.”

“Good riddance,” Lexie mumbled, causing everyone to scowl at her. “What?! She was warned not to activate the Heart and look what happened! Callie…” she trailed off, staring down at her plate as Perfume placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. 

“Holding grudges throws off our energy. Glimmer made a mistake, and it hurt people, but we should forgive her either way,” she said softly.

“She can’t play with people's lives like that! She knew the risk and who she was hurting before she did it and… I don’t think I’ll ever forgive her. But the Rebellion has our help in whatever way we can,” they looked up as Castaspella approached and Lexie stood, handing her plate off to Perfuma. “What’s the news?”

“I was able to stop the bleeding, heal up some of the bruises and marks but I could not restore hearing. That’s something She-Ra may be able to do when she returns. Also… I didn’t detect a fetal heartbeat either… I am so sorry for your loss. I don’t know if she understands what happened yet but she needs to rest and eat properly if she stands a chance of recovering properly,” Castaspella informed her and Lexie nodded numbly, clenching her fists to her side. 

Brio was at her side in an instant, placing his hands on her shoulders. “Hey, hotshot, look at me. She’s alive. She’s going to heal and recover soon. That’s more than we could have hoped for,” he told her as she trembled beneath his fingers. “We have to stay strong for her.”

“If she hadn't killed Terra, I would storm back to the Fright Zone and make that bitch pay!” she screamed, pressing her fists to her eyes as the tears leaked down her cheeks. She felt small arms wrap around her waist and looked down to see Haevyn hugging her, pressing her face into the older woman’s stomach, and felt more arms wrap around her, looking around to see Perfuma, Frosta and Seahawk join the group hug. 

She let out a strangled sob, collapsing into their embrace as the sobs racked through her body. “S-she d-doesn’t k-know! S-she c-c-can’t even h-h-hear us!” 

“Let it out, Lexie. Deep breaths. That’s good,” Perfuma coached her as Lexie tried to reign her emotions back in, her body shaking with grief. “Your child was so loved. Do you hear me? Your child only knew love and happiness from you two. You know she did everything in her power to protect them till the end.” 

Lexie nodded, sniffling. “W-we didn’t even know if they were a b-boy o-or g-girl…” 

“She’s asking for you,” Castaspella said softly and Lexie quickly wiped her tears away and pulled away from the group hug gently, giving everyone a grateful yet watery smile as she headed towards the cot Calliope was laying on. 

A blanket laid over Calliope, who was lying on her back with her head propped up with a pillow. She turned her head as Lexie approached and reached her arms out weakly, to which Lexie collapsed into them, resting her head into the crook of her fiance's neck as she inhaled deeply. Calliope wrapped her arms around Lexie, holding her close and finally feeling at peace. They laid like that for what seemed like forever, not wanting to release the other. 

Calliope didn’t say anything as she felt her neck become damp with the tears that Lexie was hiding from her and she gently scratched her partner's head, trying to comfort her. She knew. She knew Lexie was grieving the loss of their child the same as she was. Except hers was silent, her entire world was silent and her thoughts were deafening. 

Their child was gone. She failed to protect their child, she failed to protect herself, and she failed to protect Lexie. The thoughts wouldn’t be silent like the rest of the world around her. She had failed. She had magic, she had power, she had the strength and it all failed her in the end. This was the worst pain she had ever experienced, even the blood draining from her with every passing day did not compare to the pain in her heart.

Lexie finally emerged from her neck, tears staining her cheeks and her mouth moved, saying something that Calliope’s couldn’t hear, and the pain of knowing she would never hear her sweet partner's voice gripped her heart as tightly as her grief did. She stared at Lexie’s lips, trying desperately to understand what she was saying yet knowing it was useless. Her hand, unconsciously, reached down to cradle her flattening stomach, and Lexie followed the movement, a fresh set of tears emerging in her eyes. 

Calliope turned her body weakly, her back facing her partner as she curled protectively into herself, feeling the sobs shake through her as the hot tears dripped off her nose and into her pillow. Lexie curled around her back, holding her fiance as the sobs racked through her, and an awful, strangled noise left her lips that she knew she couldn’t hear herself make. 


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She-Ra returns and heals Calliope, there is a revelation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PLEASE READ: Suicidal thoughts! Read at your own risk
> 
> Will be rewriting this chapter!

Chapter Twenty

Calliope refused to eat over the next few days, opting to remain on her side and stare at the wall, occasionally seeing feet walk by her cot. Lexie tried everything to get her to eat but she could barely get the smaller girl to move from her spot and look at her. Everyone besides Shadow Weaver took turns sitting by her bedside in hopes that the support would have her up and feeling better soon. She refused to acknowledge anyone’s presence behind her, her hand gripping her arm as she dug her nails into it when the thoughts became too overwhelming. 

Lexie was beyond frustrated, taking up pacing the hideout to vent her frustrations since she couldn’t go outside to hit anything and didn’t want to risk hitting anyone else. Calliope remained unmoving throughout it all and Lexie worried that the grief would take her over any actual injury. 

“Just give her time, hotshot,” Brio would tell her as he watched her pace. “You both have lost something very precious to you, she needs time to heal.”

“She can’t heal if she doesn’t eat or move. She needs to… try at least,” Lexie murmured, chewing on her nails. 

“She can’t hear. This may seem quiet to most but I can only imagine how loud your thoughts are when it’s that silent. Also, a Musician's most important asset is their ears, to pick up melodies and understand tunes. She’s trapped in herself with her thoughts and I’m sure they are not happy ones to be trapped with. Again, give her time and she will come around,” he consoled gently, stepping in front of Lexie to stop her pacing. She looked up at him, heaving a heavy sigh. 

“I can’t lose her too…” she whispered.

“You haven’t lost her yet. But you need to be there for her when she decides she is ready to rejoin us again, okay?” he told her and she nodded as they shared a hug.

_

There was a commotion outside around the third day, to which everyone but their group went out to check on it. Haevyn sat off to the side, drawing on the ground with her finger while Brio hummed softly to soothe Lexie’s nerves, who sat by Calliope, rubbing her back gently. They stood up as the group came back inside, followed by She-Ra, Bow, Glimmer, Catra, Entrapta, and Netossa. 

Lexie hurriedly went over to She-Ra, to which the tall blonde smiled. “Hey, Lexie. Are you okay?” she asked, taking in Lexie’s disheveled appearance. Lexie eyed the rest of the group, particularly Glimmer and Catra before turning her attention back to She-Ra.

“I need you to heal Calliope, she can’t hear,” she told her, a frown gracing She-Ra’s face. 

“What happened?” she asked as Lexie glared Glimmer down, who looked down at her feet sheepishly.

“The Heart made her weak when it was activated. She was captured by Terra and tortured in the Fright Zone for two weeks before we could rescue her. She lost her hearing and…” Lexie clenched her fists. 

“What else happened? Lexie?” She-Ra questioned. Lexie looked up at her desperately. 

“Just please heal her…” she asked again and She-Ra nodded, heading towards the cot Calliope was laying on. Bow followed and Glimmer stepped forward as well before Lexie blocked her path.

“Don’t go near her. You’re not welcome,” she hissed at Glimmer, who frowned. 

“She’s my friend too, Lexie… I’m sorry about what happened,” she told her but Lexie shook her head.

“We’ve lost everything because of you. Stay away from us,” Lexie told her, stepping away to join She-Ra and Bow. 

Calliope was searching around frantically, confused at the new faces surrounding her. She only relaxed when Lexie joined her side, gripping her hand. She said something that Calliope only shook her head to, causing Lexie to frown. 

“Go ahead, Adora,” Lexie told her, releasing her had to give her room. She-Ra gently grabbed Calliope’s hands in hers and closed her eyes, glowing softly and allowing the light to pass between them. It took a few minutes but the light finally subsided and Calliope relaxed into the cot. 

“Callie?” Lexie whispered and sighed in relief when Calliope turned towards her voice. She reached her hand up and snapped her fingers over her ear, laughing softly. 

“I… I can hear… Say something!” she whispered as Lexie wrapped her arms around her, happily. 

“I love you,” Lexie told her, peppering her face with kisses before looking up at She-Ra, who had shrunken back down to Adora. 

“Thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Oh, gods, I thought I was going to lose her…” 

“It’s no problem, Lexie. I’m happy to help,” Adora told her as she stood, Bow steadying her. 

Calliope started laughing, causing the group to turn towards her with confused expressions as she pulled away from Lexie, sitting up in her cot. 

“Callie?” Lexie said hesitantly. It just caused Calliope to go into another fit of laughter.

“I-” she snickered, putting a hand over her mouth. “I was ready to die. Why couldn’t you let me do that in peace?” Lexie frowned deeply. 

“That’s not funny, Calliope,” she told her, causing the smaller girl to stop her chuckles as she turned to her, a serious expression on her face.

“You should have let me die with our baby, Lexie. I should have let me go,” she gritted her teeth, twisting her fists into the blanket beneath her. “I’m tired of surviving! All I’ve ever done is survive! And for a moment… I thought I could actually LIVE… until she reminded me that all I will ever do is survive.”

The entire room was silent. Bow, Adora, and Glimmer had all gasped softly at hearing about the loss of the baby but the room remained silent afterward, taking in Calliope’s words, feeling hopeless in the face of what was to come. It was Haevyn who stepped forward, breaking everyone’s trance as she knelt in front of the princess, vibrant green eyes staring at dull blue ones. 

“All my life, I was told princesses were evil. That we were trying to liberate Etheria. I never knew what life could be like outside of the Fright Zone. All I ever did was survive, like you. Like most of us, who grew up in this war. The last few days, I have lived. I learned about real food like apples and cheese, they make me happy. And I like hearing Mr. Brio hum, it lets me know that everything will be okay. Miss Perfuma makes very pretty flowers, she braided some in my hair. And Frosta is fun to play with, she’s my age, I’ve never played before. I heard your kingdom was beautiful and was always filled with music. I want to experience that one day, when this is over. I want to walk down a street that is filled with music,” she told her softly.

“Why did you save me?” Calliope asked, blinking back tears. 

“It was the right thing to do. Because no one should only survive for the rest of their lives, they should actually live it. What makes you happy, Miss Calliope?” Haevyn asked her and Calliope thought about it, unclenching her fists from the blanket slowly. 

“I… my kingdom. All the wonderful people I met there made me happy. I work hard every day for them. The smell of the strawberry field in the morning when I go down to sing to it. And the feel of the morning sun warming my skin… Lexie,” she said, turning towards her fiance with tears. “Lexie makes me happy.”

Lexie smiles at her, taking one of her hands to kiss it. “You make me happy. Remember those nights I had a hard time falling asleep in our barracks? Your lullabies were the only thing that soothed me to sleep. I love your music, it is the most beautiful thing I have ever heard.”

Brio stepped forward, sitting down beside Haevyn. “Callista’s cooking makes me happy. And this little one’s giggles are like music to my ears,” he teased, tickling the young girls' sides, sending giggles throughout the room that ease the earlier tension as everyone started talking about the things that make them happy. 

Lexie pulled Calliope gently into her lap, wrapping her arms around the smaller girl as they listened to everyone talk. 

“We’ve lost so much but gained much more in the process. If I could, I would bring them back in a heartbeat, my love. We will never be able to replace what we have lost but I promise to spend every day making sure you live and not survive ever again when this war is over. We will rebuild our kingdom, music will flow through the streets. One day, we’ll be married with so many kids that you won’t know what to do with yourself,” Calliope giggled softly at that, wiping tears off her cheeks. “We will grow old together, just two cranky war veterans who spoil their grandkids rotten.” 

“I’m not okay. I won’t be okay for a long time. But as long as I have you, I can manage. Just… be there to pick me back up again?” Calliope asked softly and Lexie held her tightly, nodding. 

“I’ll always be there to pick you back up. You have my word.”

______________________________________________________________________________

Castaspella had checked over Calliope again after everything calmed down and while she was healed, she was still malnourished and dehydrated, making her weak. She was ordered to strict bed rest until she gathered her strength back. Calliope didn’t like the idea of just laying around while everyone else worked on defeating Horde Prime but when she had tried to stand up, her knees buckled underneath her and she had collapsed back onto the cot with frustrated tears. 

“You went through a traumatizing ordeal and your body is still healing. Just rest, relax, gain your strength back so that you can rejoin the Rebellion,” Castaspella told her as Lexie helped her relax back into the pillows. Calliope sighed but nodded reluctantly. 

“Can I at least bathe? I feel disgusting and I’m covered in…” she stopped, her hand ghosting over her thigh as she bit her lip. Castaspella nodded. 

“As long as someone helps you, there’s no reason why you can’t. Sorry there’s no running water here but the river will be just as rejuvenating,” she told her and Lexie thanked her before lifting her fiance up into her arms. 

“Haevyn?” Lexie called as the little girl bounded out from behind a stack of boxes, coming to a stop in front of the two women. “Can you grab some clean clothes and washing supplies for us? And ask Brio if he can join us as a guard at the river?” 

Haevyn nodded excitedly. “Can I go too? I’ve never had a bath!” 

“Of course, I can help you wash your hair,” Lexie told her as the little girl bounded off to grab the supplies and Brio. Lexie headed to the front of the building with Calliope, who smirked up at her. 

“Should I be jealous? You only ever ask to wash my hair,” she teased softly as Lexie rolled her eyes. 

“She is definitely too young for me and sooo not my type. She’s more like… a little sister. Nothing for you to be jealous of, my love,” she told her as Haevyn and Brio joined them at the entrance and they headed down to the river to bathe. They found a calm section with plenty of rocks inside and surrounding the water as Brio took up guard on top of one with his back turned towards the girls so they could have some privacy. 

“Brio? Could you sing for us? It’s been a while since I heard some music,” Calliope called out softly as Lexie sat her down to help her undress. Haevyn was already splashing into the water, letting out a small yelp at the cold water. 

“Of course, princess. Anything, in particular, you’d like to hear?” He asked as Lexie undressed and lifted her back up, heading into the water with the cleaning stuff. 

“Something… happy. Something to remind us of home,” she said as she was settled against a rock. Lexie left her to go grab Haevyn and start cleaning her hair as Brio started singing a happy tune. Calliope relaxed against the rocks, closing her eyes and enjoying the sunshine on her face as the song weaved into her muscles. 

After a few minutes, she heard another voice add to the song and looked up to see Haevyn relaxing underneath Lexie’s fingers as she worked the kinks out of her red locks, the young girl singing along with Brio softly. Calliope smiled and hummed along as well as she started scrubbing the blood and dirt off. Even Lexie was humming by the end of it as she finished with Haevyn’s hair and made her way over to work on Calliope’s. 

“They were right,” Calliope told her quietly as Lexie got to work on her hair. She made a questioning noise as she worked out the blood from Calliope’s scalp.

“Music is a universal language… Anyone can understand it, know it, and become a part of it,” she said as she watched Haevyn play and sing. 

“You’re right… Let’s create a world where children like Haeyvn can live like this. Carefree and happy, no worry about wars or death,” Lexie agreed as she finished washing her hair. Calliope sat up in the water, her back facing Lexie as she bit her lip.

“We need to talk… about everything…” she said, glancing briefly over her shoulder.

“And we will. When you’re better. We don’t need to add any more pressure on you than necessary, okay?” she told her and Calliope nodded gently as Lexie lifted her out of the water and back onto the bank to dry them both off and help get her dressed in a pair of loose pants and tunic. 

“Haevyn! Time to go!” She called out as she pulled on some similar clothes and picked Calliope up again. Haevyn jumped out of the water, drying off before getting dressed. 

“Baths are fun! Can we do that again sometime!” she asked as Brio hopped down from the rocks and lifted the little girl up into his arms. 

“Anytime you want, sweetheart. Better yet, when this is over, we’ll introduce you to hot baths,” he told her as the other two women chuckled and they headed back to the hideout.

____________________________________________________________________________

Calliope was resting against the pillows of her cot, reading a book Lexie had found for her while everyone worked out a plan when she heard someone clear their throat. She looked up to see Glimmer standing a couple of feet away, shifting from foot to foot nervously. Calliope sat down her book and motioned for Glimmer to take a seat in the chair Lexie kept beside the cot, to which the Queen obliged. 

“Is there something I can do for you, Glimmer?” she asked, looking at the other woman curiously as Glimmer twiddled her fingers. 

“I… I just wanted to apologize… for everything that happened. Lexie came to us about the Heart and the research you both had found and I… ignored her. Said some mean things that I regret. I thought I was helping Etheria, even if it meant sacrificing someone… I never wanted…” she murmured, putting her head in her hands. Calliope reached over, placing a gentle hand on her knee. 

“If roles were reversed… I would have thought the same. The fate of Etheria is worth more than one person.”

“But your baby… It’s all my fault,” Glimmer cried softly and Calliope stiffened slightly, downcasting her eyes. She took a deep breath, forcing herself to remain calm.

“It was an accident… You didn’t hurt my child, Terra did. If you had activated the Heart and I had not been in the forest, we would have been fine. My baby… My baby was loved. By me, by Lexie, obviously by you and Bow, Adora, the Princess Alliance, my people. My baby knew more love in the short time that they existed within me than I had known my whole life and I am so grateful for that.”

Glimmer sniffled, taking Calliope’s hands into her own as she gave her a watery smile. “We were all excited for the baby… if there is anything I can ever do for you, just name it. Brightmoon will always be there Musicia, unlike how I was there for you.” 

Calliope smiled softly, squeezing her hands reassuringly. “Stop blaming yourself and win this war. Win this war for our moms, our dads, and all the lost children like us. Musicia will always have Brightmoons back as well.” 

“What’s going on here? Why are you crying?” Lexie said as she made her way over to the two women, kneeling down to wipe the tears off of Calliope’s cheeks that she wasn’t aware had started falling. She turned her head and glared at Glimmer. “What did you do?”

“Lexie, I’m fine. We just had a good talk. Leave her alone,” Calliope told her sharply, causing Lexie to look back at her sheepishly. 

“I’ll just go… Thank you… for talking with me, Callie,” Glimmer said before hurrying away from the pair. 

“She’s the reason you got hurt,” Lexie started as soon Glimmer was out of earshot.

“I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was not her fault and you need to forgive,” Calliope shot back, setting back down against her pillows.

“You didn’t hear the shit she said, Callie. I’ll never forgive her!”

“You’ve said some shit before and hurt others. Remember when we were eight before we became friends, and you were teasing me along with the others? Until I kicked your ass at a simulation-”

“-and I decided that I would protect anyone who could hand my ass to me,” Lexie chuckled, settling down beside her. Calliope chuckled softly too and they both stared up at the ceiling in comfortable silence. 

“You should forgive her. Brightmoon is a good ally to have on our side and Glimmer is not a bad person. She is a flawed person who is trying to protect her home and her family, like we all are,” Calliope said after a few moments. 

“I’ll think about it. If only for your sake, Callie. Brightmoon is a good ally to have after this is over,” Lexie agreed, reluctantly. 

“So… what was the meeting about?” Callie asked, trying to pull their thoughts away from Glimmer and what happened. 

“Shadow Weaver knows of a failsafe that can deactivate the Heart. It’s in Mystacor and if we succeed, it will deactivate the weapon, and Horde Prime won’t be able to use it to destroy other planets,” she explained, intertwining their fingers together. 

“This is good. If they deactivate the First One’s tech, then the Heart will be back to full power. Think of the good it will do for Etheria, for our kingdom,” Calliope whispered.

“I can’t think of the good of Etheria when all I can think about is you and what the Heart may do to you again…”

“The Heart may take me if it sees the person who is carrying the failsafe as a threat in order to protect itself. Like it did the night the Horde attacked my kingdom…” Lexie frowned at Calliope, propping up on her elbow to look at her. 

“What do you mean? How can you know this?”

“From what she wrote in her journals, to what we know about the Heart. It seems that, despite the fact that the Heart is bound under First One’s tech, it can still reach out beyond its prison to… communicate? I don’t know how to explain it. When it senses danger to itself, Etheria, or Musicia, it acts to protect and uses queens as conduits,” Calliope tried to explain. 

“But why Musicia? If the Heart is for the planet, why does it target a specific kingdom?”

“I’m guessing here, we would have to find some Etherian origin stories when this is over but… I can guess that the Heart chose the Musicians over the other kingdoms to become their runestone because music is universal like I’ve said. It can reach anyone, be for anyone, can be understood by everyone. It chose our kingdom to help unite Etheria.” 

“I mean… it’s a sound theory. I just wish we knew more. It seems like when we learn something, we are left with more questions. It’s beyond frustrating,” Lexie huffed as Calliope rubbed her arm. 

“Hey… if the Heart does take me…”

“Don’t talk like that, I won’t let it take you,” Lexie interrupted.

“But if it does! Continue on. Rebuild our kingdom, meet someone to love,” Calliope told her and Lexie snorted, looking at her fiance.

“Never.”

“Lexie-”

“No! Look, I already have my one great love of my life. It’s not… not everyone even gets that in their lifetime and I got lucky to have mine now. I made a promise that we were going to grow old together and I intend on keeping that promise. The Heart is just going to have to deal with it,” she said confidently, causing Calliope to roll her eyes.

“You’re going to fight the Heart of Etheria, oh mighty warrior?” she teased, causing Lexie to smirk.

“If I have to.”


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A talk with Adora, preparation for battle, screaming at Shadow Weaver and Prime's virus

Chapter Twenty One

Calliope couldn’t stop staring at Adora’s chest. The failsafe glowed brilliantly there, the blue and purple hue mesmerizing her and feeling… familiar. Lexie stood behind her seated figure, snickering slightly at Catra’s twisted face.

“Her eyes are up here, curly!” the former commander hissed at Calliope, whose eyes shot up to Catra’s face and she blushed furiously, Lexie putting her hands over her mouth to stop from laughing but couldn’t help the snorts coming from her. 

“I-I’m so sorry!” she stuttered out, hiding her face in her hands as Adora laughed.

“You didn’t mean anything by it, Calliope. And curly? Really, Catra?” Adora teased her. 

“No, I have curly hair. It makes sense,” Calliope peeked up, touching one of her curls. Lexie had to step away before she exploded, her face was going red from holding back her laughter. 

“See, Adora. Curly. The other is Sourface, because she always looks sour,” Catra smirked as the laughter died in Lexie’s chest and she twirled around, glaring at the catgirl. 

“I don’t always look sour! Look who’s talking, fluffbutt!” 

“Hey! Leave my butt out of this! Can’t help that you find it attractive,” Catra teased, causing Lexie to sputter. Adora and Calliope looked at each other before laughing as the two girls bickering. 

“But really… I am sorry about staring… It just looks familiar. I’ve seen that symbol before,” Calliope explained to the tall blonde, who nodded in understanding. 

“It’s really no problem. It’s kinda hard not to stare. But I can’t believe you’ve seen this symbol before. Where did you see it?” She asked and Calliope got quiet, thinking. 

“A… a vision. My mother wore a circlet crown with that symbol on the front, resting on her forehead. It had gemstones inlaid in it. I remember it during the vision where I was presented to the kingdom and… I think she wore it the day the Heart took her.” 

Adora nodded in understanding, looking down at the failsafe. “I hope it works. This is all so… overwhelming.”

“What’s the first thing you’re going to do when this war is over?” Calliope asked her, cocking her head to the side in question. Adora furrowed her brows. 

“I… I never thought about it. I never thought I would make it to the end of the war if I’m being honest. What will you do?” Adora asks her and Calliope gives her a soft, sad smile, looking over at her fiance who was still bickering with Catra, oblivious to the conversation.

“I’m going to marry her. In our kingdom, in front of the palace ruins, I’m going to marry her. Then, I’m going to rebuild that kingdom from the ground up with my bare hands if I have to. I’m going to have music flow through the streets of my kingdom again and I’m gonna make sure music flows throughout Etheria as well.”

“What about… you know?” Adora asked softly, vaguely gesturing towards the other girl's stomach. Calliope bit her lip, fingering her tunic. She avoided that area of her body as much as she could but, occasionally, she would find her hand absently stroking her belly, remembering when her child grew there. 

“I’m sorry. That’s a sore subject,” Adora muttered and Calliope just shook her head. 

“No… It’s fine. I can’t pretend it never happened. Maybe one day we’ll try again but… I can’t go through it anytime soon. I have so much… fear. It’s a helpless feeling… when…” Adora now gave her a sad smile. 

“You don’t have to explain it. I can only imagine. That’s why we’re going to end this. So that we can create a world where we don’t have that kind of fear anymore. That our kids can grow up on a planet with magic and never have to worry about fighting the way we had to.”

“Adora,” Calliope said, looking at her intently, causing the taller blonde to straighten up. “Do what you can to deliver the failsafe and bring magic back to Etheria. But, don’t compromise yourself, okay? You don’t have to put everyone before yourself.”

“I can’t afford to be selfish now. Not when we are so close to ending this! This is what She-Ra was meant to do, Calliope,” Adora protested and Calliope grabbed her hands, clutching them tightly. 

“And what about you? What are you meant to do, Adora? It’s a decision you’ll come to when you are faced with it. Are you ready to make it?” She asked and before Adora could answer, Lexie swooped down from behind, wrapping her arms around her fiance's shoulders and throwing Adora a playful glare. 

“Hitting on my girl, Adora? I’ll have to kick your ass for that!” Adora rolled her eyes at Lexie, standing and putting up her fists with a playful smirk. 

“Bring it on, Lex. I can take you, even without She-Ra,” she told the black-haired girl and began to spar as Calliope rolled her eyes. 

“I swear, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say there was too much testosterone in the air.” 

_____________________________________________________________________________

Everyone was on edge by the time the day came for them to put their plan into action. Catra had disappeared the night prior and Calliope could tell that Adora was on edge. She hoped that the blonde remembered the talk they had had and would take her advice. The other part of her hoped that it worked, no matter the cost. 

The plan was for Adora, Bow, and Glimmer to head to the Heart while Entrapta headed towards Prime’s database in order to stop the chips and free the Etherians. Everyone else would try to stop their chipped friends and family. Calliope was told she had to stay behind, which did not settle well with her AT ALL. 

“I am perfectly capable of fighting!” she protested to Lexie, who just shook her head as she crossed her arms over her chest. Calliope was fighting a losing battle and she knew it. “I feel fine! I can fight. I can’t just sit here and wait for everyone…” 

“You are still not fully recovered. Besides… I can’t go out there to fight while I am worried about you out there as well. It will distract me and then someone could get hurt. Haevyn will be here too, we’re not sending a kid into a fight,” Lexie admitted to her. 

“I can fight too!” Haevyn yelled over Brio, who had been talking to her about staying behind with Calliope. 

“Neither one of you is fighting!” Lexie yelled back as Calliope made a face at her. 

“Listen, Haevyn,” Brio told her, drawing her attention back to the salt and pepper haired man who was crouched down to her level. “This is a very important mission. Even more important than what we are going to do. Your mission is to protect the princess, okay? Princess Calliope is vital to the Kingdom of Musicia. She’s the only one who can restore us to our former glory. Do you accept this mission?

Haevyn scrunched her eyebrows, her face becoming serious as she nodded her head. “I accept. I will protect the princess with my life,” she told him before jumping forward and hugging him tightly. “Come home safe. You promised to show me a city filled with music and warm baths.”

Brio chuckled and hugged her back, tightly holding the small girl against him. “I promise to come back. When I do, this will be over and, if you want it, you’ll have a home with my wife and me.” 

Haevyn’s eyes teared up and she buried her face into his shoulder. “We can be a family?” she asked, muffled. Brio nodded. 

“We’ll be a family,” he told her. Lexie looked at Calliope, giving her a small smile. 

“What he said. We’ll be back soon, this will be over, and we can move on with our lives. Put all of this behind us,” she leaned forward and kissed Calliope gently. The smaller girl wrapped her arms around her fiance's neck, holding her close. When they pulled apart, they didn’t move away from each other, opting to press their foreheads together as they looked into each other’s eyes, brown to blue. 

“Be safe, come home. I’ll be waiting for you,” Calliope whispered softly and the taller girl swept in for another gentle kiss. 

“I’m coming home to you, I promise. I expect the biggest kiss when I come back as a war hero,” she joked as they pulled away from each other. Calliope rolled her eyes, smiling at her fiance as she adjusted her armor slightly. 

“Come back alive and I’ll give you more than a big kiss,” she smirked, causing Lexie to groan softly before pressing a chaste kiss to her forehead and joining the others that were heading out. 

Calliope and Haevyn stood hand in hand as they watched everyone leave, the younger girl leaning against the older girl as she waved excitedly. As they entered the tree line, Lexie turned around to take one last look at Calliope, memorizing her evenly split black and white curls, her deep blue eyes, her dainty, curvy figure. Their eyes met from across the clearing, there was an understanding that silently passed through them as they took the other in before Lexie gave her the biggest smile she could muster. 

“I love you, Calliope!” she yelled out, fingering the treble clef against her throat. Calliope smiled, fingers finding the Horde badge pinned to her shirt. 

“I love you too, Lexie! Go kick their ass, sweetie!” she yelled back, hearing chuckles from the group as Lexie blew her a kiss and disappeared into the trees. 

____________________________________________________________________________

Within a few hours, they were going stir crazy. Calliope had taken up pacing the length hideout while Haevyn sat on the floor, watching her pace back and forth. The only other person left was Shadow Weaver, who was attending to other things and leaving them alone for the most part. It still unnerved Calliope to have her that close but she did her best to ignore the witch. 

Haevyn’s eyes started to cross as she watched Calliope and they were slowly drooping. Every time she felt herself nod off, she shot her head back up, blinking quickly to get rid of the drowsiness. A deep sigh from the younger girl is what caused Calliope to stop and look down at her.

“You can sleep, Haevyn. I’ll be okay,” she told the younger girl, who shook her head quickly. 

“No! It is my mission to protect the princess! I have to-” Haevyn yawned, “stay awake to watch you.” 

“I’m not going anywhere. I’ll spend the rest of the day pacing then sleep. You need to rest,” she reiterated. Haevyn shook her head, but much slower this time as the drowsiness started to settle in. 

“You should listen to your elders,” Shadow Weaver said behind her, causing a chill to run up Calliope’s back. “Besides, she’s not a princess worth watching after.”

“Shut up!” Calliope yelled, turning to face the witch. “I am sick and tired of you always putting me down! Nobody likes you, everyone tolerates you. You are a bitter old woman who has done nothing for nobody but yourself! Please, do us all a favor and disappear!”

The room was silent. Haevyn stared wide-eyed at Calliope and Shadow Weaver even seemed taken aback by the outburst. 

“How dare you-” she stared but Calliope cut her off with a scoff.

“No, how dare you! You ruin everything you touch. I can name at least four girls, including myself, who you tried to completely ruin, just off the top of my head. You took everything from me. My family, my kingdom, my childhood, my innocence. You have done nothing but belittle me, hurt me, traumatize me and everyone else under your care. When you are gone, no one will mourn you. No one will care. At least you won’t be able to hurt anyone ever again,” Calliope told her before walking out of the hideout. 

She stood outside, taking in deep breaths of clean air as she let her anger dissipate. It took a little while, every time she felt calm she would remember the years of abuse she endured and it would make her blood boil again. She breathed in deeply one more time, allowing her body to relax before she decided to head back inside and apologize to Haevyn for having to witness that. 

She turned, ready to head in, when she heard it. That haunting melody that first drew her away from the Fright Zone. She turned back towards the forest, feeling the melody flow through the air and surround her. A gentle breeze picked up, blowing past her from behind and lifting her curls into the air, pointing towards the trees. It almost felt like a nudge. She needed to go. She needed to finally know where the sound was coming from. Calliope took a look back at the hideout before walking towards the trees. 

“Princess!” she heard behind her as she stood in the treeline and turned to see Haevyn run-up to her. “Where are you going?”

“I… I have to check something out. You’re not going to stop me,” she told Haevyn, who shook her head. 

“I’m not trying to. I’ll go with you,” she told the older girl. “Brio said I needed to protect you so, where you go, I go.” 

Calliope sighed in relief and the two took off into the forest as the melody kept floating through the air and she felt the breeze nudging her forward. Haevyn was oblivious to it all, unaware of the noise. They walked for a while, stopping when Calliope would lose the music. She would look around, letting out a soft melody that somewhat mimicked the original one, and would be rewarded with an answered tune back and readjust their direction. 

It got louder the farther they walked until it drowned out all other noises in the forest for Calliope. It was almost deafening when they walked into the clearing of the Crystal Castle and she stared at the pyramid-like structure, anticipation coursing through her spine as the noise came from the building. She stepped forward but Haevyn grabbed onto her hand, trembling. 

“Princess… your eyes are glowing…” Haevyn said nervously as Calliope looked at her. 

“Stay here… I have to go inside,” she informed her, gently pulling her hand away. 

“No! We go together!” Haevyn yelled, grabbing her hand again. Calliope sighed softly, nodding, as she turned back to the building and started forward. 

She got into the middle of the clearing before her entire body froze. Everything clenched painfully as she screamed out in confusion, pain, and horror. Haevyn screamed as well, trying to pull her hand away from the other girls but was unable to. Calliope’s hand was gripping hers painfully and Haevyn stared in horror as webbed lines of green crawled up Calliope’s arms, to her neck and face. Every exposed inch of skin was covered in sickly green lines. 

Haevyn finally pulled free, hearing sickening cracks as she fell back to the ground with a sob. Her wrist throbbed angrily with pain as she clutched it to her chest. She looked up to see Calliope twist unnaturally, which is where some of the cracking was coming from. Her body bent backward until she was facing Haevyn again but her face caused the young girl to scream again and slide backward quickly. 

Calliope’s eyes were pure white and glowing. The older girl clutched at her face as if trying to peel away the skin. All Calliope felt was pain coursing through her body. Her nerve endings were on fire, every cell in her body felt like it was exploding. It was nearly unbearable. Then her body went slack and she was levitating, arms and legs dangling beneath her. 

It was a terrible sight to behold. Haevyn was hyperventilating as Calliope floated about fifteen feet in the air. The green veins were pulsing horribly against her pale skin, her limbs dangled underneath her, she was bent backward in the air and her head fell back, her eyes unseeing. A light seemed to envelop her but she didn’t move anymore. 

The entire clearing was silent like all sound had been sucked out of the air. Haevyn had to shield her eyes away from Calliope and buried her head into the grass beneath her as the older girl levitated above her, unmoving. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a few chapters left of this work! Will be working on a sequel afterward! Stay tuned for more information!


	22. Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Calliope meets Horde Prime, the Heart tries to protect itself

Chapter Twenty Two

Calliope blinked and she was standing on the outside dias of the palace in Musicia. Everything was as she left in weeks prior but silent and still. Not quite, like when there’s no activity but there’s still an audible hum of life surrounding it. This was like when she lost her hearing, mute and disorienting. The entire place seemed to glow unnaturally as well. 

“My, I did not expect this,” a deep voice said behind her, breaking the unnatural silence and she whirled around to face the steps that led up to the palace to see a tall figure descending them. The figure was dressed in black and white with the Horde symbol on him but he seemed… regal, with slicked black white dreads that seemed to attach to his shoulders and four green eyes, three of which were stacked on top of the other on one side of his face. 

He felt… powerful. He exuded confidence and cockiness as he stopped at the bottom of the stairs, his arms crossed behind his back as she observed her the same way she observed him. Both not seeming to belong in this silent world they found themselves in. She straightened her back, making herself taller as she slowly circled to one side of the dias and he circled opposite of her. Like two predators waiting for the other to attack. 

“Where are we?” she asked him softly, knowing he would hear her across the platform. He paused, carefully considering her. 

“You’re trapped in my virus. Why does it affect you?” he questioned her as she scrunched her eyebrows and looked away from him to observe her surroundings. 

“Virus? Why would a virus send me home? What-” she gasped as she looked down at her hands and lifted her arms at eye level. Sickly green veins traced up her hands and arms, disappearing beneath the sleeves of her tunic. She gently touched her face, feeling the raised areas of her cheeks where the veins ran across. “What did you do to me?”

“I did nothing to you, child,” he informed her as he made his way across the dias, stopping a couple of feet in front of the girl. “Who are you?” he asked, his face an unreadable mask. 

“Princess Calliope of Musicia. You never answered me. Who are you?” she asked but already knew the answer, feeling ice shoot down her spine. 

“I am Horde Prime. I know all, I see all. But I did not see you. What is your connection to the Etherian weapon and She-Ra?” he asked as he reached out and grabbed one of her white curls, fingering it curiously. 

“Weapon? Do you mean the Heart of Etheria? It’s the kingdom of Musicia’s runestone. I am its guardian,” she informed him and watched as a smile graced his features. 

“That explains why you got caught up in my virus. Tell me, Princess Calliope, why are you fighting so hard? What do you have at stake in this pointless war?”

“Your armies destroyed my kingdom. Killed my people, my mom, and dad. I was orphaned as an infant, raised in your army by a sadistic witch, tortured and…. Raped by one of your soldiers. I lost my baby, my dignity, my hearing, and almost myself. I have too much at stake in this war, more than anyone else,” she all but growled at him, smacking his hand away from her. He frowned, pulling his hand away. 

“I can give you everything you ever wanted. Just come into my light, Princess. You will be a valuable asset to my empire,” he purred, extending his hand back out again. She frowned at it, shaking her head before feeling a volt of electricity course through her. Calliope screamed, collapsing to her knees as her arms curled against her chest. When she looked up, Prime looked just as shocked as she did. 

“Your virus… the Heart is fighting it,” she huffed. “It’s trying to use me to protect itself from you but it can’t… your virus is blocking it.”

“We can end this, child. If you come into my light, give yourself and the Heart over willingly, we can create a new world together,” he beckoned, extending his hand again.

“You have nothing that I want!” she yelled, the noise echoing into the silence. 

“Are you sure about that?” he snapped his fingers and the scene changed. 

Calliope looked around, recognizing her nursery from when she was a baby. It was exactly the way it was before the Horde attacked as well, with toys scattered everywhere, the crib centered with the mobile swinging over it. She heard humming and turned to look at the floor-to-ceiling windows. She saw the back of the white rocking chair rocking back and forth with a figure sitting in it.

She stood, heading towards the rocking chair slowly. The humming got louder as she approached and she recognized the lullaby. Something she used to sing to Lexie at night when she couldn’t fall asleep. She rounded to face the figure and blinked as she looked down at her fiance. Lexie looked so serene and beautiful, her ebony hair framing her face and she wore a flowing white dress that swept past her feet. She held a squirming bundle in her arms that she continuously rocked back and forth, humming soothingly. 

“La La Lu, La La Lu, Oh my little star sweeper, I’ll sweep the stardust for you…” She looked up, smiling brilliantly up at Calliope. “Hey, she’s having trouble going back to sleep. Did I wake you?” 

“She?” Calliope questioned, moving the blanket away from the baby’s face and gasping softly at the little cherub cheeks, rosy from crying, big tears filling her beautiful chocolate brown eyes that she obviously got from Lexie. She had ebony curls on top of her head as well with a small, white patch gracing the front of it. Lexie just rolled her eyes at Calliope affectionately. 

“Our daughter, silly. She’s fighting sleep, she just wants her mama to comfort her,” Lexie told her, handing off their daughter to Calliope. Calliope cradled the infant in her arms, in awe of the tiny bundle she was holding. 

“Lexie… she’s so beautiful,” she whispered, letting out a gentle hum that allowed the baby to quickly settle in her arms. 

“You say that every time you see her,” Lexie laughed softly, standing up to allow Calliope to sit down in the rocking chair. She settled into the chair, gently rocking as the baby grabbed her finger and those brown eyes started drifting under Calliope’s hums. 

“You’re so much better at getting her to sleep than I am,” Lexie admitted as she pulled up the ottoman to sit beside them. Calliope drew her eyes away from their daughter to look out the window, taking in the lit-up streets, the tall buildings, the people milling around. 

“Our kingdom…” she whispered softly, causing another chuckle to leave Lexie. 

“Isn’t it beautiful as well? We really did a good job rebuilding. Our people are happy, our kingdom prospers, we have good relations with the other kingdoms as well. Brio updated me earlier today about the Snows colony and how they were settling in on the communication pad. We should have a council meeting soon for updates…” Lexie was telling her but Calliope started zoning out as she looked between her bustling kingdom and her sleeping daughter. 

The door to the nursery opened and Calliope was drawn out of her haze to look up and see Queen Musa and King Ronen come in. She blinked, confused but Lexie smiled up at the king and queen. 

“We just got her to sleep so she should be good for a while. You know where everything is and we’ll have the communication pad on us in case of an emergency. Callie, your mom is and dad are going to watch her for a couple of hours while we go out” she explained as she stood up. Queen Musa stepped forward with a smile, holding her arms out for the baby but Calliope looked dumbly between them as she clutched her daughter to her chest. 

“No… this isn’t real…” Calliope mumbled. 

“What, love? Just give her the baby,” Lexie tried to coax her but Calliope shook her head, standing up and facing the room. 

“No. This isn’t real. You… you can’t give me this!” she yelled, tearing up as everyone in the room froze and Prime stepped forward, placing a hand on her father’s shoulder. 

“But I can give you this, Princess. Isn’t this what you want? A rebuilt kingdom? Your partner and a child? Your parents? You can have everything your heart desires and more if you come into my light. Be cleansed and I shall allow you to rule Etheria for me,” Prime told her and she paused. 

She looked at Lexie’s face, her calm expression and her hand outstretched towards her. She looked at her father and mother, their cheeks rosy with life and their eyes looking at her with love. She looked down at her child, sleeping peacefully in her arms and for a moment, just a moment, she considered Prime’s offer. This was everything she could ever want, wasn’t it? 

“It’s what I always wanted for the moment I found out I could have it… But it’s a life living under your shadow. We would all be chipped so that we could only follow your orders. It wouldn’t be a life… It wouldn’t be living… and I told her a long time ago that I wouldn’t just survive anymore. That I would actually live. So no, I will fight and protect the Heart til my dying breath from you!” 

The room faded quickly into blackness, the baby and her loved ones vanishing as she fell. She could feel herself falling into darkness, nothingness as Prime’s voice snarled into the void.

“When I have full control of the Heart, I will make sure you and your people are wiped so completely from the Etheria that you won’t even be an echo in their memories! No one will know that you or Musicia ever existed!” 

The darkness was pierced with the throbbing green veins and she screamed out as they pulsed through her. She felt bound into place, unable to move and she could feel the hopelessness settle over her as she felt her eyes burn. She screwed them tightly shut, ready to succumb to this darkness. Until she saw a bright light through her eyelids. She squinted her eyes open, seeing a square of light illuminate above her. 

The haunting melody came from the light, soft and piercing through the darkness and she could feel herself wanting to fight, wanting to live. She struggled against her invisible bonds, crying out against the pain as she slowly, painstakingly crawled her way towards the light, towards the melody that changed her life. 

“Prime!” she yelled into the darkness as her hand touched the edge of the light. “You’re wrong! You will never be able to erase my people from Etheria because we are the very heart of this planet! The only one that will be erased from this is you!” she gritted through clenched teeth as she pulled herself out of the darkness and into the blinding light. 

She blinked as the blackness was replaced by pure white and, while the green veins still pulsed through the area as far as her eye could see and throbbed through her own body, the pain had dulled significantly. 

“Calliope,” a voice called out and she turned around to see Queen Musa standing a few yards away from her. She was robed completely in white, the circlet tiara resting around her head, the failsafe symbol gleaming above her brow, and her eyes were still glazed over with the white film Calliope had seen in her previous vision of the night the kingdom was attacked. Calliope just shook her head as she stared at her mother. 

“Is this real?” she asked and the Queen smiled, nodding as she held out her arms and Calliope leaped forward, embracing her mother. She was soft and warm and real. After a few minutes, she pulled away slightly, still remaining within the arms of her mother as she looked at her. 

“The Heart is trying to fight the virus,” she stated matter-of-factly as her mother nodded. “It’s trying to draw me in to protect itself…”

“The Heart is the center of Etheria. Without it, Etheria will cease to exist. The Heart draws power from our people in times of need and the royal bloodline descends from the first Etherian. It’s ancient magic that allows the Heart to sustain itself when it is unable to,” her mother explained softly. 

“The failsafe… Adora could still free the Heart…” she said hopefully but her mother just shook her head. 

“The virus is growing stronger, the Heart won’t be able to hold on much longer without you. We can be together forever, my sweet,” she told her as she gently pushed a strand of hair away from Calliope’s face, cupping her cheek. Calliope leaned into her hand, tears spilling down her face. 

“I’m not ready… I can’t leave Lexie…” 

“I know. It will be okay. It doesn’t hurt. It’s like… coming home, familiar and comforting. We always belonged to the Heart, my sweet. All the queens who have been taken remain within the Heart forever. We’re not truly gone.” 

Calliope nodded sadly, taking a deep breath. Her mother pulled away, taking her daughter's hand gently and the two started walking through the white void. 

“It was you… it was your voice I kept hearing,” Calliope told her as they walked and the queen nodded, looking back to smile at her. 

“I wanted to talk. It was time for you to learn about your family and your kingdom. I still have so much to say but it can wait till after…” she explained and Calliope looked forward, seeing a glowing blue and purple orb with two crossing rings surrounding it just ahead and she stopped again, causing her mother to stop as well. 

“The Heart… It’s beautiful,” she told her mother, who smiled softly. 

“We’ve all been waiting for you. The queens of the past love meeting new queens, or princesses,” she told her, tugging on her hand gently to try to get her to move but Calliope was stuck to her spot, staring at the Heart. 

“It’s… It’s not my time, mom,” Calliope told her as she pulled her hand away, causing the queen to frown. Everything around them started to vibrate and Calliope let out a gasp of pain as she clutched her arms, watching as the green veins painfully started to subside from her skin. She looked around, seeing the green virus start to disappear and the room glow brighter than before, the purple/blue hue of the Heart overcoming the whiteness of the room. 

“The virus, it’s…” her mother said in awe.

“Going away. Adora did it. She delivered the failsafe,” Calliope whispered as she fell to her knees. She felt the magic that had been locked away unleash and she closed her eyes to avoid being blinded by its brilliance. 

She felt hands grab her arms after a few minutes and she looked up to see her mother kneeling in front of her, smiling, the whiteness of her eyes replaced with the familiar blue hue that Calliope shared with her. 

“You did it. The magic of Etheria has been restored!” she laughed as she hugged her daughter, who hugged her back happily. 

“Does this mean… can you go back with me?” Calliope asked, looking up at her mother, whose face twisted sadly. 

“No… I am permanently bound to the Heart. I will never live again but… I will also never die. I will never see your father again,” she sighed sadly. “It’s time you went back, my sweet.”

“No! I… We have so much to talk about. I can’t leave yet,” Calliope clutched onto her mother. 

“We will talk again, but not here. The Heart has a lot of work to do and so do you,” she told her as she reached up and pulled the circlet crown off her hand, placing it in her daughter’s hand. “Just follow my voice again. It’ll lead you back to me and we will talk then. I love you so much, my sweet.” She placed a gentle kiss on her forehead and Calliope’s world went dark again. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you think? Two-three more chapters left, maybe?


	23. Chapter 23

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The end of the war, the rebuilding of a planet, a visit at the Heart

Chapter Twenty Three

The fight had been hard but the Rebellion reigned triumphant as She-Ra emerged and destroyed Horde Prime and brought magic back to Etheria. Lexie looked in awe at the glowing orbs floating through the air and the new vegetation growing around her. She laughed as she dropped her sword and fell back into the grass, staring up into the sky. 

She looked to her side as Scorpia collapsed beside her along with Perfuma. They were hand in claw and Lexie smiled at them. 

“It’s over, we won,” she told Scorpia who just laughed at her.

“Obviously! So… what do we do now?”

Lexie sat up, looking at the two princesses beside her. “Rebuild our kingdoms. You have a kingdom to reclaim as well, Scorpia. It will be nice to see something good come out of the Fright Zone,” she told them. 

“There’s a lot of people there without homes or a kingdom, especially children,” Perfuma said, sitting up as well. 

“I have an idea… If you’re willing to help,” she told them and Scorpia nodded profusely.

“I bet I’m thinking the same thing,” Scorpia said.

“Use our kingdoms as refugees for those wanting a new home and building an orphanage for the children,” Lexie and Scorpia said at the same time, pausing to look at each other before laughing. 

“I’ll talk with Calliope. It’s going to take some time and meetings and paperwork but between the two of us, we will be able to resettle those affected by the war and allow them to have a second chance,” she said. 

“You have the kingdom of Plumeria on your side as well,” Perfuma informed them, placing a hand on Scorpia’s shoulder. “We will welcome any and all affected by the war.”

Lexie opened her mouth to thank her but was interrupted by Adora jogging over to them, hand in hand with Catra. 

“Looks like you survived and got the girl, fluffbutt,” she teased as Scorpia stood up and engulfed Catra in a hug. Catra rolled her eyes as she struggled against Scorpia’s embrace. 

“Lexie. You need to go check on Calliope,” Adora told her, causing Lexie to immediately jump to her feet. 

“Why? What happened?”

“When I was headed down to the Heart, it became infected with Prime’s Virus. If everything you guys have told me about your kingdom is true…”

“She got infected. Where’s Swift Wind?! If the Heart got infected, she was infected. But that also means the Heart also tried to pull her in to protect itself! Oh, gods, she could be gone already!” Lexie panicked as Adora whistled for Swift Wind and the flying horse came swooping down to them. 

“Swiftie! Take Lexie to the Rebellion base!” she asked and Lexie hopped onto his back. 

“Will do, She-Ra!” he told her as he launched himself back into the sky, Lexie clinging to his neck. 

“Wait! Brio! We have to grab Brio!” she told him and he swooped back down as she scanned the mass of people for her friend. “There!” she pointed to the familiar salt-and-pepper-haired man and they landed a few feet away. He was being attended to by one of the sorcerers, who was wrapping bandages around his torso as Frosta talked animatedly to him. 

“Brio!” Lexie called out from the back of Swift Wind and he looked up, giving her a smile. 

“We won, hotshot! Ow!” he held his ribs in pain as she rolled her eyes. 

“We have to go! Calliope is in trouble!” she told him and his eyes widened as he stood

up, hissing. 

“He needs to rest! He’s been seriously injured!” the sorcerer scolded, trying to get the older man to sit back down. He waved her off as he made his way over to Swift Wind and Lexie helped him get onto the horse.

“Princess Frosta! We will continue our discussion in the following weeks!” he told her as she gave him a thumbs up and they took off towards the Whispering Woods. 

______________________________________________________________________________

The clearing was glowing brightly when Callista and a few citizens from Musicia stumbled into it from the woods. After their chips had been deactivated, they had noticed the light coming from the woods, reminding them most of the night the Horde attacked and their queen was taken. Callista had prayed the entire way there that the same fate wasn’t befalling their princess. 

When they entered the clearing, she first noticed the small girl curled up on the ground in the center of the clearing, right underneath the brightest part of the light. Callista hurried over to her, shielding her eyes as she noticed that the young girl's face was buried into her arms, shielding her own eyes. Her red hair fell over her arms as Callist knelt beside her, touching her gently. 

“Sweetie! Get up! What happened here?” she asked as the young girl flinched, looking up at her before scooting away quickly. “Hey… It’s okay… I’m not going to hurt you. What’s your name?” she said soothingly, holding out her hand gently towards her. 

“Haevyn… I was supposed to protect the princess” she started to cry, tears filling up her green eyes that reminded Callista so much of her own. 

“Princess? Do you mean Princess Calliope?” she asked, watching Haevyn nod as she pointed upwards without looking. Callista didn’t follow her finger, knowing she would be blinded if she looked directly into the light. 

“What happened to her? Come on, sweetie, let’s get away from the light,” she told her and Haevyn took hold of her hand as they stood up and Callista led her to the edge of the woods, checking her over for injuries. 

“Mr. Brio said I needed to protect the princess while he and Lexie went to fight. I followed her out here and she was fine but we got over there and she started screaming and there were awful green lines on her and-” she shuddered at the memory, wrapping her arms around herself. “She started levitating… it went silent afterward, I haven’t heard her say anything since.”

“Brio? You know my husband?” Callista asked excitedly as Haevyn nodded again. Callista gently wiped the tears off her face. “Hey, it’s going to be okay. Princess Calliope is strong and you did an amazing job.”

“I was supposed to protect her…” Haevyn muttered softly, leaning against Callista. Callista wrapped her arms around her. 

“You protected her the best you could. This was not something you could have protected her from…” 

“Haevyn? Callista?” they heard a shout and turned towards the woods as Brio and Lexie burst through the trees, Lexie supporting him the best she could. Haevyn’s face lit up at the sight of them and she surged forward, wrapping her arms around Brio, who hissed in pain.

“Brio! Thank gods you’re okay!” Callista said as she went to him, pressing her hand to his cheek as he smiled at her.

“I can say the same for you, my love,” he told her as Lexie helped him sit on a large boulder. 

“Where’s Calliope? Is she okay?” Lexie asked and Callista looked at her, frowning. 

“She’s in the clearing. Lexie… it doesn’t look good…” Callista told her and Lexie sucked in a sharp breath. She started forward. 

“Lexie, no! You’ll go blind!” Callista shouted as the Dryl scout leader, who had joined Callista on the trek over, wrapped his arms around Lexie to stop her from going into the clearing. She screamed and struggled against him. 

“No! She needs me! Let me go! Calliope!” she screamed, feeling sobs rise in her chest. 

“Lexie! She’s gone! This light means that the Heart is taking her! There is nothing we can do!” Callista told her, feeling her own tears well up in her eyes as she tended to her husband, who sat silently with Haevyn sitting at his feet, leaning against his leg. 

“No!” Lexie sobbed, going limp in the scout leader's arms and he settled them both onto the forest floor. She cried as he loosened his grip on her. “She can’t be gone… we won! We fucking won…” 

The light started to dim in the clearing and everyone was able to look up. There was a heaviness among the group as the only noise they could hear was Lexie’s sobs. It wasn’t until Haevyn shot up suddenly that they broke from their reprieve. 

“Calliope! She’s still there!” she shouted, pointing to the sky. They all looked up and Lexie shuddered out a gasp as she surged forward into the clearing. Calliope was floating horizontally in the sky, her limbs still hanging limply underneath her and her hair floated around her but she was descending slowly. 

Lexie was underneath her, on her knees, with her arms outstretched as she made it to the ground and Lexie cradled her in her arms. Calliope continued to stare towards the sky, her once blue eyes glowing pure white as Lexie caressed her face gently. 

“Love, wake up. You’re okay, it’s over. We won. Please… please come back to me,” she cried softly, rubbing her thumb over Calliope’s cheek gently. There was silence and then… Calliope gasped loudly as her body went rigid and her eyes blinked back blue as she stared up at Lexie, giving her a soft smile.

“Hey… thanks for not dying…” she told her and Lexie let out a watery laugh, kissing her face excitedly. Calliope lifted her hand to caress Lexie’s face but noticed her fist clutching something. She looked, tears springing in her eyes as she recognized her mother’s circlet crown after easy her fingers from around the failsafe symbol. Lexie noticed it too, looking at her curiously. 

“A lot happened while you were gone… We have a lot to talk about. But I owe you something first,” she told her, pulling her face down to give her a kiss. Lexie kissed her back, her lips salty from the tears as she strung her fingers through her fiance's hair. She felt Calliope groan softly and she smirked against her lips as they heard an awkward cough behind them.

“Easy there, hotshot. Don’t want to corrupt an innocent child,” Brio said as they looked up to see him covering Haevyn’s eyes. They looked at each other, laughing as Calliope stood up and helped Lexie to her feet as well. 

“Did we really win?” she questioned in disbelief, looking around at her small family, her people. Lexie wrapped an arm around her waist, resting her forehead against hers. 

“We won. It’s over,” Lexie reassured her.

“And it’s about damn time too!” Brio scowled, causing the group to laugh. 

“Let’s go home,” Callista said and Calliope nodded in agreement.

“Home… Finally home.”

______________________________________________________________________________

It was a few weeks before she heard the familiar call to the woods. They had spent the last few weeks in meetings with the Princess Alliance, drawing up treaties, trade routes, humanitarian help, and rebuilding efforts. Lexie had taken up the project with Princess Scorpia to establish an orphanage in the former Fright Zone. It made Calliope’s heart swell with pride and sadness as her partner's passion to help the children. 

“They’re kids like us. They were torn from their families and forced to fight in a war they never wanted. They deserve a better childhood than what we had. Also… it’s for our own child. Families lost children to the war, the same as we did… We can connect these children and families together and create something new. Something beautiful,” she had explained and Calliope had wept. 

Their kingdom had also had an influx of refugees. They had offered their kingdom as a safe haven for those affected by the war but never expected to gain so many new citizens as well. 

“With the magic of Etheria restored, we are seeing an increase of people with natural musical abilities and talents cropping up not only in the previous Fright Zone but in other kingdoms as well. It’s the Heart’s way of restoring our people, strengthening us. We’re going to need to re-establish the colonies, from a proper council of representatives from each kingdom, find ways to train these people on their new abilities,” she had explained to Lexie and the rest of the Princess Alliance during a meeting after gaining over two hundred reports on people discovering their magic. The Alliance had all agreed to her requests and the first people she asked onto her council were Brio and Callista. 

“Who better than people that already understand the culture and use the powers of the kingdom of Snows and Plumeria? Plus, you’re our closest friends. It would be a great honor to have you both on our council to help us during this transition,” she had told them and they both agreed, only on the condition that Haevyn was allowed to travel with them as well as reside with Calliope and Lexie in the city. They had taken the young girl in and had unofficially adopted her as their daughter. Calliope and Lexie had no problem with the agreement, loving Haevyn as much as her new parents loved her. It, temporarily, filled a hole in their hearts that their child had left behind. 

The new groups of refugees had made the rebuilding process much easier and they made substantial progress over the course of a few weeks. Even now, in the dead of night, Calliope woke up in her and Lexie’s room in the palace as the melody carried through their open window. They had rebuilt that particular wing and had left the rest untouched to focus on the city more, much to everyone’s protest. 

She started to stand, trying her best not to shift the weight of the bed but seemed to have failed when she felt Lexie grab her hand. Her fiance looked up at her with sleepy eyes, the sheets wrapped around her naked body. 

“Where are you going, love? It’s late…” she mumbled groggily and Calliope smiled affectionately, pulling on her discarded nightgown and a robe. 

“I’ll only be gone for a little while… I’ll be back before you wake up in the morning,” she told her as she leaned over and kissed her gently. Lexie groaned as she pulled away. 

“Don’t go… Come back to bed. I can make it worth your while,” she told her and Calliope just laughed softly. 

“Tempting, but this is important. I promise to be back soon. Just rest,” she said as she circled around the bed and headed out the door. 

_

It took her hours to navigate the Whispering Woods and then the Crystal Castle labyrinth but the voice never ceased. The farther down she got, the louder the melody became and, unlike when she first heard it and it filled her with curiosity and fear, it now filled her with hope and happiness as she knew who was summoning her. When she saw the familiar blue and purple glow at the end of the last hallway, she practically sprinted the rest of the way. 

The Heart vibrated brilliantly in the center of the room, the purple and blue hues intertwining and mixing together. Her mother stood underneath it, exactly how she saw her in her previous vision with her flowing white robes and vibrant blue eyes. She turned and smiled at Calliope, extending her arms out as she flung herself into her mother’s arms, burying her head into her chest. Musa rested her cheek against the top of her daughter’s multicolored curls and they stood there, embracing each other. 

It could have been minutes, it could have been hours, but they finally pulled apart and looked at each other, Musa resting a gentle hand against her daughter's cheek as she brushed away a black curl. 

“You look just like your father… I miss him,” she said softly as Calliope leaned her cheek into the hand. “He always loved your eyes, they reminded him of me. His muse.”

“How did you meet daddy? Angella told me a little…” Calliope told her and they took a seat on the ground, a far-off look gracing her mother’s face.

“Angella… I miss her as well. We were young, teenagers really. It was our first Princess Prom and we had gone together. Boys found us intimidating, her being an angelic being and both of being the crown princesses of our kingdoms. It was… love at first sight. Your father was the ambassador's son for the kingdom of Salineas. We had the first dance together, our hands touched, I looked up and was met with beautiful, dark eyes… I was smitten. So was he. We danced with each other the rest of the night and he asked me to marry him a few months later. It was like a fairytale.”

“That sounds so romantic. You two were made for each other,” Calliope said. 

“It was romantic. It was supposed to be a dream come true. We took over the kingdom after my father passed and then, I found out I was going to have you. You were the greatest joy of our lives. I had never seen your father look happier than the day you were born. He took you in his arms, stared down at your little cherub face as you cried, and said ‘she is going to have the most beautiful voice, hear her cries, they are the most beautiful sound I have ever heard. Let’s name her Calliope, for beautiful-voiced.’ Names have power, he wanted your name to reflect who you’d be. He was right.”

“He died protecting me. He fought till the end to protect our kingdom, mom. It just wasn’t enough…” Calliope bit her trembling lip. 

“That’s just like him though. Dying to protect the things he loves. I’m sure if he had been able to, he would have had the Heart take him instead of me.”

“The Heart,” Calliope looked above them, observing the Heart. “Tell me about it… about our power and our kingdom.”

“The Heart of Etheria is the reason our planet exists. It’s the life and soul of this planet. In the beginning, when the people of Etheria came into existence, the planet was chaotic and wild. The Heart created the elemental runestones to help control some of the wild magic and chose a people, our people, to tap into its power to help balance the planet. It needed a common language that the entire planet could understand and it chose music. That’s why our people are able to do so many different tasks with music that the other kingdoms are able to do.

Along with that, the royal family was given special gifts. While our people benefit from the music magic, they are only about to master one to two gifts. The royal family can master most of the talents since we are able to tap directly into the magic of the Heart. Every hundred years or so, a royal child is born with the full power of the Heart. The Heart’s magic is hard to control because no one should be able to hold the entire planet's magic. It’s like… while we can tap into the Heart’s magic, the Heart actually infuses itself into that person and becomes a living person. 

The last princess to hold the Heart’s magic like that nearly destroyed Etheria. They are more prone to swing extremely towards light or darkness. Emotions can really affect their abilities, a simple bout of anger has the power to level a city. I say this because it’s been an eon since the last child was born. The First One's tech prevented the Heart from using its magic properly and now that the tech is disabled...,” Musa explained to an enraptured Calliope. 

“A child will be born soon that holds the power of the Heart within them instead of just tapping into its power. We just regained peace in Etheria, I hope it can wait for a few generations. Can you tell me about the First Ones?”

“They came from the stars a little over an eon ago. We thought they came with good intentions, they told the royal family that they were studying the magic of Etheria and asked to study the Heart. No one knew they were building a weapon to siphon the magic of the planet. Ultimately, the tech ended up locking away the magic of the planet after the last She-Ra pulled us into the shadow dimension Despondos. But, with the frustration of having the magic locked away, the Heart would wait for opportunities to unleash some built-up power it would store. That resulted in the taking of queens since the Heart could only act when our kingdom, the planet, or itself was in true danger. 

“The night I was taken, the Horde had discovered the weapon and had come into the city to try to find a way to access the Heart. The Heart took me to protect Etheria and erased the memories of Musicia and itself from the minds of the Etherians. I’m guessing the Horde took you in hopes that you would be of some use trying to find the weapon but then forgot about it.”

“That explains why Shadow Weaver always held disdain for me. Like she knew something was important but couldn’t remember so would rather hate it than learn from it,” Calliope mumbled and her mother frowned, taking her hand. 

“I am so sorry that you were left alone to the Horde. I know it must have been horrible and if I could go back and fix it…”

“Hey, there’s nothing that could have been done. It would have ended the same. You know… I would pray every night for a family to love me. To have a mom and dad that didn’t abandon me and cared for me. After I met Lexie, I prayed every night to never lose her. I am luckier than most. I had a mom and dad who loved me more than anything. I have a fiance, soon to be wife who loves me, a kingdom who cares for me, and the respect of the other kingdoms. I’ve lost a lot but I gained much more in the process,” Calliope explained as she squeezed her mother’s hand in reassurance. 

Musa smiled and hugged her daughter. “I see a bright future ahead of you. You will lead out people into an era of peace and light.”

“Can the Heart see the future?” Calliope asked, pulling away from her mother who nodded. “Can it see mine? Can you tell me something of my future?”

“It’s best that you don’t know, my sweet. Knowing the future is a burden…” 

“Please! Just one thing, anything really. Like how our kingdom flourishes or what I’ll have for breakfast next week. Please, mom,” she pouted, giving her mother puppy dog eyes as the older woman sighed, smiling, before closing her eyes as she held both of her daughters' hands. After a few minutes, she opened her eyes again but they were the filmy white she had grown accustomed to in her visions.

“Queen Calliope of Musicia will not live to see her daughter take the throne,” her mother said in a deep voice. Calliope froze, shocked as her mother took in a deep breath, her eyes closing again before opening back up to their brilliant blue. 

“Oh, sweetie…” she murmured as she pulled her daughter back to her, holding her. “I told you you did not want to know…” 

“That… that could be any time… I could have a lot of time…” she mumbled, trying to convince herself. Her mother nodded slightly, stroking her hair. 

“You should be heading back soon… I’ve taken up a lot of your time already,” she told her after a few minutes and Calliope clutched onto her robes. 

“I’m not ready to leave you… Will I ever see you again? I just got you back…”

“You can come back anytime to talk. I’ll be here. I’ll always be waiting for you, my sweet. Go home to your love, I’m sure she’s starting to worry,” Musa told her as Calliope nodded, standing up and walking a few feet away from her mother.

She looked back as her mother’s seated figure underneath the shimmering Heart and smiled. “Hey! I love you, mom!”

“I love you too, Calliope. I’ll see you soon,” she said as she watched her daughter walk away. 

_

Lexie was pacing their bedroom when Calliope entered. It wasn’t even midmorning yet, she had hoped her fiance would sleep in a little longer but she should have known better. Lexie was still on a Horde schedule and was up before the crack of dawn most mornings. When Lexie saw her girl coming through the door, she visibly relaxed as she rushed over and hugged her.

“Where did you go? I was worried sick. Do you want me to die before we’re 25? Cause that’s what I’m going to do. Die of a heartattack from worrying about you,” she fussed as Calliope laughed, hugging her back.

“I told you this morning I was going out and would be back before you woke up. I forgot that you wake up before the planet does, I’m sorry,” she murmured against her neck. 

“Again, where did you go? I barely remember that conversation,” Lexie told her.

“The Heart… My mom summoned me and we had a good talk about the Heart and a history lesson. I'll tell you more about it after I sleep. I’m sorry I worried you, I really thought I would be back quickly,” she told her, omitting the vision she learned about. 

“Fine, I forgive you. Let’s get you to bed, my love,” Lexie said as she lifted her fiance up into her arms, who giggled as she was carried to the bed. Lexie laid her down, crawling in beside her and curling around her. Calliope sighed happily as she snuggled into her.

“Hey, Lexie?”

“Hmmm?”

“Let’s get married in the next year,” Calliope yawned, closing her eyes as Lexie stared at her, smiling. 

“If that is what my princess wants, that’s what she’ll get. Sleep, we’ll start planning when you wake,” she told her as she kissed her forehead and the two drifted off to sleep together. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew! This was a long chapter to write! After writing it in my google docs, it ended up being 15 pages long! 
> 
> Anyways! I have decided to end the book as it is! I want to thank everyone so much for your support on this fanfic! It was so much fun to write! 
> 
> I am planning a sequel but before I do that, I will be writing a book of One-Shots on this book and it's characters! It will take place between this book and the sequel and will feature the day-to-day lives of our characters, major life events, past events, etc! 
> 
> I urge you to read the one-shots if you want to see our characters get married and start their families as well and be introduced to the new characters that will be center-staged in the sequel! 
> 
> Enjoy!!!

**Author's Note:**

> First She-Ra fanfic but diverts from the original plotline and adds new characters to make the story more interesting. Let me know what you think! Origianl She-Ra Characters mixed with Original Characters of my own creation! Hope you enjoy!


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